Always Smile
by Col3725
Summary: Sequel to Don't Cry...this story follows our favorite family on summer vacation (full description inside)
1. July 2021 (Part I)

**_Surprise! I wasn't planning on doing a sequel to 'Don't Cry', but I couldn't help it. I set up the end of the story so that if I decided to continue, I would have a specific idea for the sequal. Well, here it is._**

**_ This won't be nearly as long as 'Don't Cry' and these will mainly be one-three shots depending if you guys want continuations on any of the chapters. _  
**

**_Basically, this story follows Booth, Brennan, and the kids on vacation at the house they bought (the house they were thinking about in 'Epilogue Part II'). Each chapter(s) will take place during the summer starting with July 2021 (which is two months after 'Epilogue Part III'). I have no idea how far in the future this story will go, but we'll see._**

**_If you have an idea of something you want to see them do on vacation, let me know. I'm open to prompts/suggestions for where you want to see this story go. _**

**_Enjoy :)_**

* * *

Booth pulls into the driveway of their vacation home in North Caroline and switches the SUV into park. He turns the key and looks at the sleeping duo in the backseat. He glances to his left and smiles at his partner, who is also asleep, her head resting against the car window. It's been a long drive. "Bones." He nudges her when she fails to respond to her nickname. "Bones," he repeats, raising his voice a little.

Brennan jerks, pushing away from the window. She stretches and rubs her eyes with her knuckles. She turns her head and raises an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

He smiles and unbuckles his seatbelt. "We're here…finally."

She swallows and looks out the windshield, the familiar cream-colored garage door of their beach front house comes into view. She undoes her seatbelt and pulls on the handle, soon realizing that the door is still locked.

"Sorry." He presses the unlock button on the door.

She shrugs, still dazed from her nap. She opens the door successfully this time and steps out onto the cobblestone. She opens the back passenger door and shakes Henry awake. "We're here, buddy."

Henry's eyes pop open and he looks around. He relaxes when he makes eye-contact with his mom and smiles sleepily at her.

She smiles back at him and unbuckles him from his car seat. She lifts the sleepy toddler into her arm, allowing him to flop down against her chest and shoulder.

Henry wraps his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist and nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck, closing his eyes. "Mommy, I sleepy."

She nods, stroking his hair, and walks around the back of the SUV to the trunk. She holds her son against her with one arm and opens the hatch with her free hand.

"Get the kids settled in the house, Bones. I've got the bags."

She reluctantly agrees, knowing there is no way she can carry her suitcase, Henry's suitcase, and Henry all at the same time.

"Princess, go with your mom inside the house."

Christine nods, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She yawns and brushes her messy hair out of her face.

* * *

"Is Parky coming still?" Christine asks when they reach the front door.

Brennan nods. "He and Cody are driving down tomorrow."

Christine smiles. "Good."

Brennan unlocks the door and opens it wide, motioning for her daughter to walk through it into the entryway.

Christine yawns again and passes the threshold into the familiar space. She takes a deep breath in and exhales.

Brennan leaves the door open for Booth and heads for the elevator. She presses the up arrow and steps into the cart when the door slides open a couple seconds later.

Christine follows her mom and looks around the small space. "I still think this is _soooo_ cool." She watches the numbers change from one to four before the elevator stops with a rumble and the door squeaks open. She's the first one out and turns to the right, practically running towards the bedroom she claimed as hers the first time she saw the place before her parents even made an offer. She jumps into the bed and instantly melts into the puffy white and purple comforter. "Ah."

Brennan sticks her head in and laughs. "When your dad brings up your suitcase, get ready for bed. It's late."

"Yes, mom." Christine snuggles farther into the soft cotton and closes her eyes.

Brennan shakes her head and walks across the hall. She turns the knob and opens the door, stepping into the room that's been Henry's since he was a year-old. She flips on the light and sets the sleeping child on the bottom bunk of the tree house bed.

Henry opens his eyes and yawns. "Mommy?"

"I'm right here, Honey. Daddy's getting your suitcase and then I'll help you get into your pajamas so you can go back to sleep."

Booth knocks on the door and enters the bedroom. "I put your suitcase in our room, Bones." He sets Henry's bag on the mattress and leaves again, pulling Christine's bag with him.

Brennan unzips the small superman duffle bag and pulls out a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. She helps Henry undress and change into his pajamas, doing the most of the work because the little boy is just too tired. "All right. Let's go brush your teeth and go potty. Then it's bedtime."

"I don't gotta go, mommy."

She raises an eyebrow and looks right into his brown eyes. "Are you sure?" She nods. "I'll take your silence as a no, mister. Come on."

Henry takes her hand and they walk out of the room.

* * *

Five minutes later, Henry's tucked in and Brennan walks across the hall. She knocks on her daughter's room and then opens the door, peeking in. She smiles, seeing the ten year-old snuggled under the covers. "Goodnight, Sweetheart."

"Goodnight, mom." Christine rolls over and curls into a ball, drifting back to sleep.

Brennan shuts the door and turns to walk down the hall, only to run right into Booth. She steps back and rests her hand over her heart, catching her breath.

"Whoa, there, Bones."

She rolls her eyes. "Let's just go to bed."

Booth nods and leads the way to their bedroom, which is down a floor. He stops just before entering the room and turns to Brennan, giving her a mischievous smirk.

Despite knowing exactly what's coming, it still surprises her when he scoops her up and carries her across the threshold like he's been doing since they bought the house two years ago. "Booth!" She squirms and kicks, unable to control her laughter.

"Shhh. You'll wake the kids." He carefully drops her on the king-sized bed and leans over her, crushing her lips with his.

She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him back, hard.

He finally pulls back, the need for air too great to ignore any longer. "I'm gonna take a shower…wash off the long drive. Parker said he'd call when he and Cody got on the road. He was gonna leave around ten, so they should be here around four-ish."

She nods, her exhaustion creeping back. "Okay."

"I'll leave the door open so you can get ready for bed while I'm in the shower."

She nods again. She was about to ask if he would do just that. She stands up and walks over to the corner of the room where Booth had put their suitcases. She carries her bag over to the bed and sets it down on top of the sheets. She grabs a red tank top and black, red, and white plaid pajama shorts, before heading into the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, both of them are in bed and asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Brennan's in the kitchen, sitting at the L-shaped island, having a cup of coffee and enjoying a piece of toast. She looks to her right and smiles at Henry, who's making a mess while eating his apple cinnamon oatmeal. "How's your breakfast?"

Henry gives her a grin and a thumbs up. "Awesome." He picks up his sippy cup and sucks up the apple juice inside, washing down his oatmeal. "Where's daddy n Rissy?"

"Your daddy's in the shower and your sister is still sleeping." She runs her fingers through her son's hair and takes another bite of her toast.

"I go wake her." He slips from his stool and makes a quick exit to the elevator.

She watches him disappear behind the door and waves back. "Crazy boy," she mutters. _I suppose that will teach Christine to wake up earlier._

Booth emerges from the elevator a minute later and wraps his arms around his wife, dropping a good morning kiss on the top of her head. He pulls back and takes the stool that his son just vacated. "Parker called. He and Cody just left her apartment."

"It wouldn't have been the same with him."

He nods. "I agree, but we can't expect him to come _every_ summer, as much as I wish he would."

"Yes, I know, but it's still nice that he decided to join us this year after all."

"It is nice. I'm glad he did." He pauses. "You eat breakfast?"

She motions to the plate of crumbs in front of her. "I had two pieces of toast."

"How about some eggs?"

She nods, picking up the anthropology journal lying discarded to the side. She flips to the page she dog-eared and takes a sip of her coffee.

Henry comes back into the kitchen with a grumpy-looking ten year-old girl trailing behind him. "Rissy wake now."

"He jumped on me," Christine shouts, being a little overdramatic.

"Eggs, Princess?"

"Yes, please," Christine grumbles, sitting at the island counter, her comforter wrapped around her. "When's Parky gonna be here?"

Brennan gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek. "Later this afternoon. He and Cody just left."

Christine snuggles into her comforter and fights back a yawn.

"How do you want your eggs?"

"Scrambled, dad."

Booth nods. "You got it, Princess."

Henry finishes his now lukewarm oatmeal and pushes the bowl away. "All done." He gets down and scurries over to the sink. He pushes his stepstool over and climbs up, setting his bowl in the sink and reaching over to turn on the faucet.

"Don't forget the soap this time," Brennan reminds the little boy.

Henry pumps some soap into his palm and scrubs his hands together, blowing at the bubbles he's creating. He giggles when one lands on his nose and then pops. He rinses his hands and dries them off before he climbs back down onto the floor and shoves the stool back into its hiding place. He throws his arms in the air and beams. "All clean."

Brennan smiles. "I see." She pauses. "Come here so I can wipe off your mouth."

"We swim now?"

Brennan cleans off her son's mouth and shakes her head. "We can go swimming after your sister and I finish our breakfast, okay, bud? You can go watch TV until we're ready."

Henry nods and takes off for the family room. He plops himself on the beanbag chair and switches on the TV.

Back in the kitchen, Booth puts a couple servings of eggs on Brennan's and Christine's plates, adding three strips of bacon to the latter's. He pours some orange juice into two glasses and sets them in front of them. He makes himself a plate and pours himself a glass of OJ before joining his girls at the counter.

* * *

Around 4:30, the front door opens and Parker and Cody walk in. "Dad? Bones? Hello?" The two young adults pad through the entryway and head straight for the kitchen.

Dakota looks out the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, while her boyfriend continues to the dining room. "Parks, I think they're outside," she calls, reaching for the hem of her thin, pale blue T-shirt. She pulls it up over her head, revealing a sparkly deep purple and aqua striped bikini top. "What do you say we go join them?" She unbuttons her jean shorts and pushes them off her hips. She steps out of them, kicking them up and catching them mid-air. She slips out of her sandals and turns to face him again.

He just stares at her, glancing up and down her bikini clad frame. He swallows, finally tearing his eyes away and meeting her questioning emerald gaze. "Yeah, sure, sounds good."

She takes a step closer to him and pulls his hands away from the hem of his T-shirt. "Allow me." She slowly pulls the shirt over his head, taking her time to run her hand up his torso. She rises up on her tippy toes and plants a kiss on his lips. She steps back and smirks. She takes his hand and tugs him towards the French doors leading onto the porch. "C'mon."

He nods, lets go of her hand, and touches her shoulder as he runs ahead of her.

"Hey!" She runs after him, in attempt to catch up to him.

* * *

Hearing laughing, Brennan turns her head and sees Parker and Dakota racing towards the water. She smiles and glances at Booth, who's in the water with Christine and Henry.

Parker comes to a sudden stop when he reaches his stepmom and smiles. "Hey, Bones. We made it."

Dakota runs right into him, falling on her butt, laughing so hard she can hardly breathe.

He turns around quickly and gasps. "Cody, are you okay?"

Dakota rolls her eyes. "Course I'm okay. It's just sand." She pushes herself up and smiles at Brennan. "Hey, Dr. B."

Brennan nods. "Hello, you two. Your dad's in the water with your sister and brother, Parker."

He nods and glances to the spot where his girlfriend had just been, except now she's not there anymore. "Cody?"

"C'mon, slowpoke!"

He turns his head towards the distant voice and spots Dakota halfway towards the water's edge. He takes off after her, ending up running ahead of her.

Dakota leaps onto his back, wrapping her legs and arms around him, and allows him to carry her the rest of the way.

Brennan sits back and laughs at their antics.

* * *

Later that night, Booth and Brennan have just finished cleaning up after dinner and are both now enjoying their evening coffee on the deck overlooking the beach.

Something catches Brennan's eyes and sets her coffee down on the railing. She pokes Booth in the shoulder a couple times to get his attention.

Booth turns his head and raises an eyebrow, jerking away before she can poke him again. "What are you doing, Bones? Stop pokin' me."

"I was trying to get your attention. It worked." She smirks. "Look…out there." She glances towards the water at the two silhouetted figures in the distance. "Is that Parker and Cody?"

He nods. "Yeah, I think so."

"What are they doing out there? I thought they were watching a movie in the theater downstairs."

He presses his finger to his lips. "Shhh." He turns his focus to his son and leans against the railing. He strains to hear their conversation, but they're just too far away. He sighs and resigns to just watching them.

"Are you spying on them?"

"Yeah."

She shrugs and leans against the railing too, hooking her arm around his waist and turning her focus to her stepson and his girlfriend. "What do you think they're saying?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. Damn, I wish I could hear them from here."

"We could get closer." She starts to move, but he stops her.

"No. They'll see us and our cover will be blown."

She nods. "Okay." She gasps, seeing Parker drop to his knee and pull something from his pocket. "Booth."

He blinks. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?"

"If you're thinking he's proposing to Cody, then I would say I believe he is doing exactly what you're think he's doing." She pauses. "Do you think she said yes?"

He sees his son leap up, pull Cody into hug, and then lean in for a kiss. "Um, yeah, I think she did."

"Well, we knew he was thinking about it." She pauses. "He's young, but you said you knew that you were going to spend the rest of your life with me the first time you saw me, so perhaps Parker knew that about Cody, as well. He is a lot like you, you know."

He nods. "C'mon, let's go inside. We can confront them later."

"Confront or congratulate?"

He laughs, pulling her away from the railing. He rests his hand on the small of her back and leads her into the house. He leans in and presses a kiss to her ear as he whispers, "Same thing, Bones."

* * *

_**Do you want me to continue? **_


	2. July 2021 (Part II)

**_Thanks for the reviews/follows/favorites. I'm glad you guys like it so far. _**

**_This is a continuation of the first chapter. Hope you like it. _**

* * *

Christine's sitting at the island counter, drinking juice, and waiting for the pancakes her Dad is currently whipping up. "Dad, can I have blueberries in my pancakes?"

Booth turns his head and smiles. "Sure thing, Princess."

"Thanks." She picks up her book and flips to the page she left off of.

"That a book for school?"

She shakes her head. "I already finished my summer reading list, Dad. This is just for fun."

He nods. _Of course. _"It any good?"

"Some of the supporting characters are kinda dull, but yeah, the plot's interesting."

"What's it about?"

"It's about a hearing impaired six year-old boy who witnesses his best friend's murder."

"That doesn't sound very cheery…or fun."

"It's actually a very uplifting story, Dad."

"Uh-huh," he mutters, setting a plate of three blueberry pancakes in front of her along with a container of maple syrup. "There ya go, Princess." He pauses. "Put the book down and eat up."

"Fine." She closes the book and sets it aside again. She drowns her pancakes in syrup and cuts them into pieces. She pops one forkful into her mouth and looks up at her Dad, her blue eyes twinkling. "Mmmm…thanks."

He smiles. "You're welcome, Baby."

"Is mom and Little Alien gonna be back soon?" She asks, between bites.

He nods and cuts a quick glance at the clock on the stove. "Yeah. Your mom said they were just gonna take little walk down the street. They should be back any minute." He starts to clean up the kitchen, stopping only when he hears footsteps. He turns around and smiles. "Good morning, Bub, Cody."

"Good morning, Agent Booth." Dakota takes a seat beside Christine and rubs the remainder of sleep from her eyes.

"Morning, Dad," Parker grumbles, opening the refrigerator.

Christine turns her head towards Dakota, raises an eyebrow, and nudges her arm. "So?"

Dakota smiles and nods.

Christine squeals and throws her arms around Dakota. "You're gonna be my sister now?" She questions, just to be sure she understands fully.

Dakota nods. "Yeah, Squirt." She holds out her hand, glancing down at the princess-cut diamond ring adorning her finger.

Christine takes Dakota's hand and looks at the ring more closely. "Oh, it's beautiful, Cody. Who knew my brother had such good taste?" She smirks.

"Very funny, Teeny. She knows you helped me pick it out," Parker says, his head still in the refrigerator.

Christine hugs Dakota again before pulling back and continuing eating her breakfast like nothing happened.

Booth blinks and stares at Christine. "You knew? For how long?"

Christine shrugs. "Uh, um, a while."

Parker shuts the fridge door and turns around to face his Dad. "Wait, you know?"

Booth wrings the damp dishtowel, hanging it on the lip of the sink, and nods. "Bones and I were on the deck last night."

"Oh." Parker pauses. "Are you mad?"

Booth looks between his son and Dakota and sighs. "No. We knew you were thinking about it. You said as much. We just didn't think you'd actually do it so…soon."

Parker walks over to his fiancée and slings his arm around her shoulders, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Yeah, well, once you know, you know, right, Dad?"

Booth, once again, can't argue with that, so he nods.

"And before you ask, no, she's not pregnant or anything. I just…" Parker looks into Dakota's eyes and smiles. "I just love her."

Booth coughs, swallowing hard.

"I said she's _**not**_ pregnant, Dad."

All Booth can do is nod.

"Anyway, we're not gonna get married until after we graduate." Parker pauses. "Where are Bones and the little guy?"

"Right behind you." Brennan walks into the kitchen, a thin film of sweat covering her face and neck. "What did we miss?"

"Parker and Cody are getting married, which means Cody's gonna be my sister soon! How cool is that?"

"Is that all? I already knew that." Brennan looks at Booth. "I'm going to take a quick shower. What's for breakfast?"

"Christine had pancakes, but I can make you anything you want, Bones."

"Pancakes are fine."

"Cinnamon swirl?"

"Oh, we're going fancy this morning, are we?" Brennan tweaks an eyebrow and smirks.

"Anything you want, Baby." Booth grimaces. "Too much?"

Brennan nods. "Just a little bit," she says, demonstrating with her thumb and index finger.

"Yeah. Sorry. I got carried away."

Brennan laughs, winking at him, before she turns around and heads for the staircase. "Come on, Henry."

"Okay, mommy." Henry rolls off the beanbag chair and jumps up, following his mom up the stairs.

Parker rolls his eyes. "Did you forget we were here or something, Dad?"

Dakota slaps her fiancé playfully on the arm. "Oh, c'mon, Parks. I think it's cute. They're still all flirty and in love after all these years. You don't see that very often anymore. It's something to aspire to."

Booth just smiles, knowingly, and turns back to the stove to make his wife breakfast. _Cycles of_ attraction,_ yeah okay. God, I love when Bones is wrong._

* * *

_**Still open to ideas for future chapters if anyone has them.**  
_

_**The next chapter will take place a year from this one, unless anyone wants more of this summer...just let me know :) **_


	3. July 2021 (Part III)

**_Sorry for the delay. Hope you like this chapter :)_**

* * *

Brennan's sitting in a beach chair under the umbrella, reading a magazine and digging her bare feet in the sand. She closes her eyes for a minute, listening to the waves crash onto the shore and the sound of Christine's and Henry's laughter along with the distinct sound of her partner's grumbles as the kids bury him from the shoulders down. She lowers the magazine and finds said partner glaring at her. She just smiles at him, holding back a laugh of her own. "The mermaid-look looks good on you, Booth," she snickers.

"Laugh it up, Bones. You're next," he says, his glare softening and turning into a smug smile.

Her face falls and she quiets instantly.

He nods just as Henry adds more sand to his stomach, the little boy patting it down with the back of his giant shovel.

"Mommy, daddy's all gone." Henry giggles, adding sand to the only other visible part of his dad's body beside his neck and head—his right hand.

"I see."

Christine, who's down by her dad's feet sculpting the fins, looks over at her mom and smiles. "Check it out, mom."

Brennan smiles. "Pretty impressive, Sweetheart."

Christine scoots back on her knees to admire her own work. "Done."

"I think you're forgetting something."

"What, mom? Dad's covered in sand and the tail and fins are done. What're we forgetting?"

"Mermaids are generally female if I'm not mistaken."

Booth snaps his head towards his partner, his eyes wide. "Oh, no, Bones. Don't even think about it. This is where I draw the line."

"Boobies!" Henry squeals and giggles, gathering up some sand into a ball.

Booth cringes at his son's outburst and glares at Brennan again. Realizing he's at the mercy of his children, he softens his expression just a bit and mouths, "You owe me big for this."

Brennan just shrugs, tweaking an eyebrow. She sets her magazine down and reaches into her bag for her digital camera. She lays it in her lap and watches the kids put the finishing touches on their artwork. Once completed, she snaps a quick photo of the three of them and returns to her chair.

Booth slowly emerges from the sand like a zombie, complete with grunts and groans, and gets up.

Henry takes off running, screaming and laughing as he goes.

Booth chases after him, scooping him up and tossing him gently over his shoulder. He runs down to the ocean, kicking up water as he goes in waist-deep to wash off all the sand.

Christine pushes herself up to her feet and follows her dad and little brother.

Brennan shakes her head and picks up her magazine again, smiling to herself as she watches her daughter jump onto Booth's back.

"Bones!"

Brennan looks up and can't hide the smile on her face when she sees Booth motioning frantically for her to join them in the ocean.

"C'mon!"

She shrugs and stands up, putting her magazine in her bag once again. She removes her white sheer sarong from around her waist and her pale blue spaghetti-strap tank top, revealing her black bikini. She drapes her discarded clothing on the back of her chair and yanks her ponytail loose, running her fingers through her hair and pulling it back up.

"Bones!"

"Booth, keep your board shorts on. I'm coming." She makes her way down the beach and out to where her partner and the kids are.

Once Christine purposely falls off his back, Booth transfers little Henry onto his shoulder, holding his ankles.

Brennan smiles and glances up at her boy.

"Mommy, I can touch da clouds!" Henry reaches up, grabbing at the air.

Brennan laughs.

Booth goes out a little farther, so the water now comes up to his chest, his youngest son's feet grazing the surface.

"Swim, daddy, swim."

Booth removes the little boy from his shoulder and places him into the water, holding onto him.

Henry kicks his legs and bats at the water, laughing when he inadvertently splashes his older sister.

"Hey!" Christine splashes him right back, which starts a battle between the siblings, leaving Booth and Brennan caught in the crossfire.

Booth glances over his partner, keeping his grip on Henry. "We should go to the boardwalk tonight."

"We can discuss it at dinner, but that sounds fun. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves there last summer."

"Yeah."

Henry suddenly covers his eyes and his bottom lip quivers as tears roll down his cheeks.

Brennan notices the change right away. "Honey, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Ris—Ris—Rissy," Henry hiccups, "spla—spla—splashed me in ma—ma—my eyeballs!" He whimpers and sniffles, knuckling his eyes.

"I'm sure it was just an accident, Sweetheart." Brennan takes the boy from Booth and settles him on her hip, lowering herself farther into the water. She gently removes his hands from his eyes and presses a few kisses to his cheek. "Look at me, Henry."

Henry lifts his chin and looks into her eyes.

"You're okay."

Henry nods, smiling at her. "I okay, mommy."

Brennan smiles back at him.

Henry hooks his arms around one of hers and nuzzles his face into her shoulder.

"I think it's time for a nap." Brennan glances at Booth. "I'll take him into the house if you want to stay out here with Christine for a little while longer."

Booth nods and gives her a quick peck on the lips. "Maybe you should take a nap too. You look exhausted."

Brennan's about to challenge him, but then a betraying yawn escapes. "I suppose a nap would be beneficial, especially if we plan on going to the boardwalk this evening." She pauses. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

Booth laughs and gives her a wink. "And whose fault is that?"

"Yours." She smirks and turns around.

Christine plugs her ears with her fingers and closes her eyes. "I didn't hear that…la-la-la-la."

Booth bites his bottom lip, realizing he hadn't whispered that as quietly as he thought. "We'll be inside soon."

"Stay out as long as you'd like." With that, Brennan and Henry head for the beach.

* * *

"I wish Parky and Cody came to the beach today," Christine says while floating on her back.

"Yeah, well, they wanted to do their own thing today. C'mon, let's go out farther."

She flips onto her stomach and dives under a passing wave, popping up a couple feet away.

Booth smiles and walks towards her. "Wanna race to the beach?"

"Sure, but I'm gonna beat ya."

"No way, Princess."

"Wanna bet?" She pauses and flashes him a smile, her eyes twinkling. "If I win, I get to pick out what we do tomorrow."

"What if I win?"

"Um, um, I don't know. What if you win?"

"You have to babysit your brother tomorrow night so your mom and I can go out by ourselves."

"Are you gonna pay me?"

"We'll see."

She holds out her hand. "Shake on it?"

He nods, clasping her hand. "Ready," He gets into position and glances over at his daughter.

"Get set…"

"Go." He lets her get a small head-start before swimming, a wave helping him close the gap.

By the time she reaches the shore, her dad is waiting for her.

* * *

After dinner, while it's still generally light out and the temperature has dropped enough for it to be somewhat comfortable, Booth and Brennan find themselves walking a few paces behind Parker, Dakota, Christine, and Henry as they stroll along the boardwalk.

Henry's attention is quickly pulled from the flashing lights to the stuffed banana with a mustache seated on a shelf nearby. He turns around and runs back to his mom and dad, tugging on the former's arm, pointing to the game. "I wanna play, mommy."

Brennan shrugs and walks over to the game. She sits down and hoists the little boy onto her lap. She turns to the rest of her family and motions to the empty seats on either side.

Soon, all six of them are seated and in proper position to shoot water at the target a few feet in front of them. The guy behind the counter makes his announcement and then the guns switch on.

Henry places his hands on his mom's and watches as the lights near the top of the tube. "Faster, mommy, faster."

The bell rings and the siren above Christine's station flashes.

Henry pouts. "Again, again. Play again!"

"Let your sister pick her prize first, Henry," Brennan says, adjusting him on her lap.

Christine looks around at all the prizes and then glances at Henry before turning back to the man. "The banana with the mustache, please."

"Good choice." The guy takes the prize off the shelf and hands it to the ten year-old. "There ya go, kid."

"Thanks."

Christine turns to her little brother and holds out the stuffed banana.

Henry's brown eyes brighten and he takes the toy, hugging it close to his body. "Mommy, look what Rissy gived me."

Brennan clears her throat. "What do you say to your sister, Henry?"

"Tank you, Rissy." Henry stretches out his arms.

Christine slips off the stool and give her brother a hug. "You're welcome, Little Alien." She ruffles his hair and sits back down. "You heard the little dude, let's play again!"

Booth and Brennan exchange glances and nod.

They play three more times (Parker wins the next round—winning a stuffed purple bear for Cody—Christine wins the second game—choosing a stuffed monkey—and all of them let Henry win the third—picking another stuffed banana, this one with a top hat) and then they continue on down the boardwalk, being pulled every which way by an overexcited three year-old.

* * *

_**A/N: I've decided to make each vacation five chapters long, so there will be two more chapters of this summer.**_

_**Next up: Christine babysits Henry while Booth and Brennan go on a date**_


	4. July 2021 (Part IV)

**_It's been a while and it may be a while before I get you guys the next chapter (I'm sort of taking a break), but I decided to give you this to tide you over. Hope you like it :)_**

* * *

Brennan's in the bathroom, smoothing out the wrinkles in her royal blue, figure-hugging dress. Once satisfied with the way the dress lays on her frame, she makes sure her black bra straps are hidden and then turns back to the mirror hanging above the sink. She picks up the curling iron and works on fixing her hair. She acknowledges a knock on the door with a 'come in' and ties part of her hair back with a clip.

The door opens and her daughter takes a step forward, leaning against the doorjamb. "Dad wanted me to see if you're almost ready. He says you're taking _forever_—his emphasis, not mine."

Brennan flips her hair behind her shoulders and looks at herself in the mirror. With one flick of the wrist, she coats her lips in a thin layer of clear gloss and then removes the excess with a tissue. She unplugs the iron and turns to face Christine, smiling. "Tell your father that I'll be downstairs in a minute."

Christine nods. "Mom, you look…wow, you look really pretty. Dad's not gonna know what hit him."

"It'll be my hand if he keeps rushing me. You can tell him that too."

Christine laughs. "Okay." She turns around and hurries out of the room.

Brennan takes one last look in the full-length mirror behind the door and heads into the bedroom. She sits on the edge of the bed and puts on her shoes, a pair of black strappy high-heeled sandals. She grabs her clutch from the top of the dresser and slips her phone into, before leaving the room and heading for the elevator.

* * *

Booth's sitting on the couch, nursing a pre-dinner beer, his feet propped up on the coffee table, with Henry sitting beside him, drinking water from his sippy cup, imitating his father.

Christine walks in and hops up beside her dad and brother. "Mom said she'd be down in a minute and if you keep harassing her to hurry up, she'll slap you when she sees you."

Booth turns his head and raises an eyebrow, ceasing his drinking. "She said she'd slap me?"

Christine shrugs. "I'm pretty sure that's what she meant."

Booth nods. "We have reservations," he mutters. "There's money on the counter for you to order pizza. Tell the guy on the phone to leave it on the doorstep."

Christine rolls her eyes. "Dad!"

"It's not safe."

"I think I can handle the pizza delivery boy." Christine grunts, shaking her head. "I'm ten. I'm not a baby."

Booth's about to protest, until he catches a glimpse of his wife out of the corner of his eye and loses all train of thought. He nearly drops his beer bottle in his lap when she comes into full view. He blinks, swallowing hard. "Bones," he says, breathless.

Brennan half smirks. "You sent our daughter upstairs to hurry me along, but you're sitting on the couch, beer in hand, without shoes on. It appears I'm the one who should be hurrying _you_ along."

He just continues to stare at her, his eyes roaming her figure, the dress doing wonders for her womanly curves.

"Booth?"

Christine nudges her father in the ribs, effectively getting his attention.

He sputters and quickly recovers, standing up. "Yeah, uh, I'll just go, um, get my shoes on," he says, making no effort to move.

"Dad, you and mom have reservations, remember?"

"Right." He moves past Brennan and heads into the kitchen.

Brennan smiles to herself, proud that after all these years she can still make Booth act like a complete fool when she dresses up nice. She turns her attention to the two kids on the couch. "Alright, you two, behave yourselves. Henry," she waits until the three year-old looks up at her before she continues, "be good. We won't be home too, too late, but be sure to listen to your sister and not give her a hard time, okay?"

Henry nods. "Yes, mommy."

"And Christine, the list of emergency phone numbers is on the refrigerator. Make sure you give your brother a bath and that he's in bed by 8:30."

"I've babysat Little Alien before."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but I feel better when I remind you of his schedule each time."

"So am I getting paid for this?"

"We'll discuss the issue of payment later."

Christine nods. "Yeah, okay."

Booth comes up behind Brennan and hooks his arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Ready?"

Brennan nods, keeping her eyes on Christine and Henry. "Both of you…behave yourselves."

The two kids nod at the stern tone and look of their mother.

Brennan glances at Booth. "I'm ready. If we leave now, we'll just about make it to the restaurant in time for our reservation."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours." Brennan reaches up and straightens his tie. She smoothes the lapels of his jacket and pats him on the chest. "Let's go." She pauses. "We'll be back later."

Again both kids nod, but Christine's the one who speaks. "Bye. Have fun. We'll be here."

Booth and Brennan say their goodbyes and leave the house.

* * *

Christine leaves Henry on the couch watching some cartoon and heads into the kitchen to retrieve the pizza place's phone number. "What kinda pizza do you want, Little Alien?"

Henry turns around, his head popping up over the back of the couch. His brown eyes twinkle when he flashes her a patented Booth grin. "Peppawoni!"

She nods as she dials the number of their favorite place in town. She orders the pizza—half pepperoni, half veggie—and rejoins her little brother in the living room. She plops down on the couch, kicking up her feet and leaning back into the cushions.

He turns back around and settles in beside her. "When's it gonna come?"

"Soon."

"I hungwy now."

She nods. "Yeah, me too, but they gotta make the pizza first and that takes a while."

"What's a while?"

She shrugs. "A half hour."

"What's a half hour?"

"When your show's over, the pizza will be here, okay?"

He nods and turns his attention to the TV, just as the credits start to roll. He looks back at his big sister, his eyes wide. "Is da pizza hewa now?"

She sighs. "When the next show is over, the pizza will be here."

"Oh, 'kay, Rissy." He sucks up the remainder of his water as he watches the show intently. A few minutes later, his stomach grumbles loudly. He looks up at Christine then. "Rissy?"

She sighs again and looks down at him. "Yeah?"

"I'm hungwy."

"Yeah, I know, me too."

"Is da pizza hewa now?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because they're still making it."

"Dey need to huwy up."

"I agree, Little Alien. Just watch the show. The pizza will be here before ya know it."

He nods. "'Kay." He turns back to the show and giggles at the silly cartoon.

Time passes by slowly, but eventually, the doorbell rings. "Pizza's here."

He turns his head quickly and smiles. "Yay! Go get it! Go! Now, Rissy. Pwease go. I'm hungwy."

"I'm going." She heads into the kitchen, but stops when she hears her brother following her. "Go sit on the couch and wait for me. I have to go get the pizza from the delivery person."

He shakes his head. "Daddy says don't do dat."

"Daddy's not here, is he?"

He looks around and flicks his eyes up at her. "No. Daddy and mommy are gone."

"Exactly."

"Daddy says don't do dat, Rissy."

"Daddy's not gonna know I answered the door."

"Daddy's gonna be mad."

"Not if he doesn't find out. Besides, Dad's just being paranoid, buddy. It's a professional hazard." She grabs the money just as the doorbell rings again. "I gotta get the pizza."

"Uh-oh. You gonna be in twouble, Rissy."

She rolls her eyes and heads for the door. She checks the peephole and unlocks and opens the door, greeting the young teenager with a smile. She exchanges the cash for the pizza and says goodbye to young man before shutting the door. She hurries back into the living room and sets the box on the coffee table. "See, Little Alien? I didn't get abducted." She flips open the box and takes a whiff of the pizza. "Ah, that's good stuff."

Henry shrugs and reaches for a piece, only to have his hand slapped away by his big sister. "I hungwy!"

"It's hot." She sets a piece of pizza on a paper plate and hands it to him, opening up a napkin and slipping the corner into his shirt. "There. You gotta blow on the pizza 'cause it's hot. The cheese will burn your tongue." She proceeds to steal a piece of pepperoni from his slice and pops it in her mouth.

"Hey! Dat's my peppawoni."

She smiles at him and grabs herself a slice from her half of the pizza, taking a bite. "Yum." She looks over at Henry, who's enjoying his pizza slice just as much as she is, though more of it is on his hands, face, and shirt than actually in his mouth.

* * *

Brennan returns from the bathroom and sits back down at their booth, which is secluded from the rest of the patrons in the restaurant. She slides in beside her partner and takes a sip of her water. She glances at him, finding herself looking right into his brown eyes, which seem almost brighter in the dim-light. She smiles and leans into him slightly. "This is nice."

Booth nods, leaning down and capturing her lips with his in a brief kiss. "Yeah, it is." He smiles back, letting out a breath. "I love the kids, but man, it's good to just go out by ourselves once in a while."

She presses her finger against his lips, silencing him. "We agreed to keep the kids out of our conversations when it's just the two of us."

He nods. "I know." He pauses. "You look beautiful tonight, by the way."

She adjusts his tie and runs her hand down the front of his dress shirt. "Thanks and _you_ look exceptionally handsome tonight." She starts to fiddle with his buttons, slipping her thumb between a slit in the fabric, grazing bare skin.

He swallows, shifting his hips slightly on the leather of the booth. "Bones," he breathes out when he feels the air-conditioning brush against his chest, painfully aware that she has just freed a few of the buttons on his pale blue shirt.

She flicks her eyes up at him and gives him a sultry smile, her fingers dancing across his bare chest, fully aware of the affect her actions are having on him. She pulls back when the waiter clears his throat and sets a plate in front of Booth. She swallows, a pink hue showing on her cheeks. "Thank you." She nods as the waiter sets her plate in front of her.

"Can I get you two anything else?"

They both shake their heads and watch the man walk away.

She laughs, glancing over at Booth. "Oops," she mumbles to herself, picking up her fork.

Booth groans, his pants just a little bit tighter now.

She pats his leg discretely under the table. "Don't worry. I'll finish what I started after dinner," she whispers into her soup, smirking when she hears him groan again.

* * *

By 8:15, Christine's standing at Henry's dresser, staring at his collection of pajamas. "Monsters or Smurfs?" She turns around and sighs, seeing her little brother running around his room completely naked, the monkey towel discarded near his bed. "Little Alien, do you wanna wear your monster pjs or your Smurf pjs?"

"No pjs. I wanna be fwee." He wiggles around and moves his arms to a nonexistent beat.

"Monsters, it is." She pulls the blue and red pajamas with the monster feet from the drawer and sets them on the bed. "All right, buddy, c'mon, time for bed." She goes to grab him, but he runs away and starts to laugh. "This isn't funny, Henry. C'mon. Mom and dad are gonna be home soon and if you're not in bed in ten minutes, they're gonna be mad."

He sticks out his tongue at her and runs out of the room.

"Henry!" She shouts, chasing after him. "Get back here!"

"No!" He giggles, ducking into his older brother's room.

She follows him, but when she looks around for him, he runs back out into the hallway. "This is not funny!" She turns around and leaves Parker's room, looking both ways, trying to figure out which way her little brother went. "Henry, c'mon."

He jumps out from behind the open hall closet door. "Boo!" He throws his arms up and starts to giggle uncontrollably.

She jerks and lets out a yelp in surprise. "Henry!" She takes his hand and the two of them walk back to his room. She picks him up and sets him down on the bed. "Now, sit there and don't move." She reaches for the pajamas she laid out earlier and slips the shirt over his head.

"Uh-oh."

"What now?"

"I goed potty." He pauses. "Sowy."

She sighs. "It's okay." She lifts him up and sets him on the floor. "C'mon." She walks out and into the bathroom. She cleans him up and they head back to the room. She helps him finish getting dressed before she tackles changing the sheets on his bed.

While she focuses on making up his bed, he sits on the floor, racing his trains across the rug. "Boom," he yells, smashing them together.

"Alright, Little Alien, time for bed."

"Wead me a stowy, pwease." He climbs into his bed and settles under the covers. "Mommy weads to me."

"Sure, I can read you a story." She grabs the _Thomas the Tank Engine_ book on the nightstand and crawls into bed beside him. "Get comfy."

He shifts back and forth and lies his head down on his pillow, closing his eyes and yawning. He cuddles his stuffed animals and curls into a ball.

She cracks open the book and begins to read. A couple minutes later, she stops and looks at her little brother. When she sees that he's asleep, she shuts the book and begins to set it back down on the nightstand, but his little sleepy voice stops her.

"No. Pwease go on."

She nods. "Okay." She opens the book and finishes it. She gets out of bed and leans over, placing a kiss on the top of his head and pulling the covers up to his neck. "Goodnight, Little Alien. You're a pain in my butt, but I love you anyway." She gives him another kiss, turns off the light, and leaves the room. It's not even nine yet, but she's exhausted. She heads downstairs and collapses on the couch.

* * *

Brennan takes her keyring out of her purse and sticks the correct key into the lock.

Booth sneaks up behind her, hooking his arms around her waist and showering the side of her neck with soft pecks.

Brennan shivers and a soft moan escapes her lips. "Booth," she breathes out, momentarily distracted.

He breathes against her skin, running his right hand up the side of her torso, while massaging her hip with the other.

"Booth," she manages with a little more force.

He grips her shoulders and spins her around, pushing her up against the door. He leans into her and presses his lips against hers, his fingers now sliding through her loose waves.

She fights the urge to moan and grips his lapels, pulling him closer to her. She pushes the heel of her right sandal into the door and tilts her head to the side. "Booth." She exhales. "Kids." Another breath. "Inside." She shifts, breaking the kiss slightly. "Now."

He shakes his head and leans farther into her, reestablishing contact. "They're," he swallows, "fine."

After another long minute, she pushes him back, keeping her hand against his chest and her arm extended. "Stop." She gives him a small smile and turns around to face the door. She quickly unlocks the door before he has the opportunity to distract her again and opens it. She walks into the quiet house, finding Christine asleep on the couch.

Booth follows close behind, shutting the door and locking it once again. He glances at Brennan. "I've got her."

"I'll go check on Henry."

He nods and heads over to the couch, while she heads for the elevator. He sits on the coffee table and strokes Christine's hair, gently waking her.

Christine stirs, opening her eyes and smiling sleepily at her dad.

"Rough night?"

"You have no idea."

"I think I might." He laughs. "C'mon. Why don't you go up to bed?"

Christine rubs her eyes and squints at the clock on the cable box. She doesn't even care that it's only 9:15. She's tired and lying in her big comfy bed and going to sleep sounds like a great idea right about now. She nods and rolls off the couch. She gives her dad a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Night, dad."

"Night, Princess." He pauses. "And thanks for babysitting tonight. Your mom and I really appreciate it."

Christine smiles. "You're welcome."

"Sweet dreams, Baby."

"Did you and mom have a good time at dinner?"

He nods. "Yeah. It was nice."

"Tomorrow when we go to the beach, I want a re-match. I'm gonna beat your butt this time." Christine laughs and walks to the elevator.

Brennan returns a couple minutes later and joins Booth in the living room. "Henry's asleep." She bends down and takes off her sandals, letting out a relieved breath. She curls her legs under her on the couch and leans into him. "Much better."

He runs his fingers through her hair and presses a kiss to the top of her head. He looks down at her with a devilish smirk on his face. "The kids are asleep. You know what that means?"

She shifts and stares at him. "I'm exhausted, Booth."

"It means, Bones, that we can watch whatever movie we want."

She swats his chest and laughs.

He leaps up and walks over to the DVD case.

She shakes her head and stands up. "I'll be upstairs in the bedroom. I need to change into something a little more appropriate for movie viewing."

He turns his head and looks up at her. "But I like that dress. It fits you really—well."

She smirks, but continues towards the elevator. "I'm positive that you'll believe my pajamas fit me _even better_." She laughs, disappearing around the corner.

"I'll be right there!" He grabs a random DVD, not caring what the hell it is or what it's about, and follows her.


	5. July 2021 (Part V)

**_I know I said I was taking a break, but then I got an idea, so here it is..._**

* * *

Brennan's walking along the beach early in the morning, keeping an eye out for shells and sea glass for Christine. She stops and turns towards the ocean, breathing in the distinctive beachy smell. The sun rising higher in the sky and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore seems to relax her.

"Dr. B?"

Brennan turns her head to find her future daughter-in-law standing there, her green eyes clouded with unshed tears. "Cody, is something wrong?"

Dakota shrugs and sinks to the sand, bending her knees and hugging them closer to her chest.

Brennan hesitates for a long second before joining the young woman by sitting down beside her. "Did you and Parker have a fight?"

"No, no, it's not—Parker and I are good," Dakota reassures the older woman, but absently twists her engagement ring around her finger.

Brennan glances down at Dakota's clasped hands and then back to her face. "Well, if you and Parker didn't have a fight, then something else is bothering you. There has to be a reason you're out here this early."

"I—I think I—I might be pregnant."

Brennan blinks. "Oh."

"I'm late, um, two weeks and I've just been feeling off for a couple days now."

"Why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be discussing this with Parker?"

Dakota stares out over the water for a minute before she begins her explanation. "I know, I just…we talked about having a kid, you know, but we always said we would talk about it more after we finished school and got married. We just got engaged and he seemed so…when Mr. Booth confronted us in the kitchen, Parker seemed almost…gleeful when he assured him that I wasn't pregnant. I guess I'm just—I'm just scared about how he'll react—if he'll be happy or angry with me for being too careless or something else entirely."

Brennan nods. "Everyone else is still sleeping, so why don't you and I head to the store? You can pick up a few pregnancy tests and then we'll go from there, okay? It wouldn't be logical or practical for me to try and give you advice, if that is what you are seeking from me, on a problem that you aren't sure even exists at the moment."

Dakota nods. "Yeah, okay, thanks."

"Come on." Brennan pushes herself up to her feet and dusts the granules of sand off of her. "I just have to grab my purse and then we can go."

Dakota smiles, wiping a single tear from her cheek.

Brennan slings her arm around the young woman and presses a kiss to her hair. "It's going to be okay. If Parker is anything like his father, it's all going to be okay."

Dakota glances at the older woman and nods. "I hope so."

The two of them disappear into the house and a minute later, head out the front door.

* * *

Dakota paces back and forth down the aisle where the pregnancy tests are shelved and heaves a sigh. "There are so many different kinds. I mean, this one," she picks up a box, "the display is a line or a double line, and this one," she pauses to grab another box, "is digital, and then there's these," she says, motioning with her hand over a few different varieties of tests on the middle shelf, "are early pregnancy tests, oh and then you have the ones down there that show a plus or minus. It's…overwhelming."

Brennan nods. "They all do the same thing, Cody. They're all designed to detect traces of the hCG hormone in your urine." She pauses. "I have to pick up a few things, so just pick a few different tests and meet me at the register. Feel free to pick up anything else you want or need while we're here."

Dakota nods. "Yeah, okay."

Brennan offers the young woman a friendly smile and walks down the aisle, heading right once she reaches the end.

Dakota lets out a breath and grabs a few different tests, dropping them in the basket she's carrying. She heads to the candy aisle, deciding to pick up some jolly ranchers for Parker, cherry twizzlers for Christine, and a package of dum-dum lollipops for them all to share, mentally deciding to give the rootbeer ones to Henry when she and Brennan get back to the house and save the cotton candy ones for her little sister when they get home on Saturday.

Brennan already has her things set on the counter when Dakota walks up to her. "The cashier is just ringing up my items now, so empty your basket onto the counter."

Dakota shakes her head as she reaches for her wallet. "No, I couldn't ask you to—I can pay for this stuff, Dr. B."

"I never said you couldn't pay for your items, Cody. Save your money. It's not a problem."

Dakota sighs. She's known this woman for over three years now. She knows it's a lost cause to argue this point with her. "Thanks."

"You're family. Like I said, it's not a problem." Brennan pauses. "If you don't feel comfortable with me paying for your things, you can pay me back in the car."

Dakota nods, placing the contents of the basket on the counter.

Brennan eyes the candy and smiles, saying absolutely nothing. She swipes her credit card and signs the touch pad quickly. She takes the bags from the cashier after he slips the receipt inside one, and then she looks at Dakota. "I can tell you're anxious to find out the truth, so we could go back to the house now or we can ask for the key to the store's restroom. While the facility is not exactly sanitary, you may feel better if we get this over with."

Dakota nods.

"And Christine and the boys may be awake now."

"Here's fine. I've used their restroom before. It's actually surprisingly clean for a public bathroom."

Brennan nods and looks at the cashier, who had been eavesdropping so he already has the key ready to hand to her. "Thank you," she says with a nod and she and Dakota head to the back of the store.

* * *

Brennan's leaning against the wall right outside the bathroom when she hears the toilet flush. She turns towards the door and knocks. "Cody, may I come in?"

"Door's unlocked, Dr. B."

Taking that as a 'yes', Brennan pulls down the handle and opens the door. She steps inside and locks the door as soon as the door clicks shut.

Dakota backs into the sink, closing her eyes and swallowing hard. "I just gotta wait."

"The wait is the most frustrating part." Brennan laughs, choosing to lean against the door.

"If it's negative, do you think I should still tell Parker?"

Brennan crosses her arms across her chest. "That's up to you, Cody. I cannot make that decision for you."

Dakota sighs. She expected that answer, so she tries a different angle. "If you were me, hypothetically, would you tell Mr. Booth if you _thought_ you might be pregnant? Or if you were Parker, would you want to know regardless?"

"Trust is extremely important in relationships. If you are not pregnant, while there is nothing to tell, I still think you should tell Parker that there was a chance you were pregnant. Booth and Parker are a lot alike and I know Booth would be angry with me if he found out that I suspected I was pregnant and didn't tell him."

Dakota nods. "Yeah, that makes sense." Her cell phone beeps and she swallows again before opening her eyes and glancing down at the test in her hand. She blinks, staring hard at the display window. "It's—it's—."

Brennan closes the distance between them and rests her hand on the girl's shoulder, looking down at the test. "It's positive."

* * *

**_Now I'm really taking a bit of a break._**

**_This is the last chapter of Summer 2021. I haven't decided when the next chapter (whenever I get around to writing it) will take place. If you want to see some of Dakota's pregnancy, let me know. I'll work that into the next chapter._**


	6. July 2021 (Bonus)

**_This is a bonus chapter. It's pretty long. Enjoy :)_**

* * *

Since Dakota isn't ready to go back home, Brennan decides to head to the small park near the house. She gets out of the car and opens the hatch. She grabs a blanket and leads the way to a nice private shaded area towards the far-end of the park. She lays out the blanket and sits down, looking up at Dakota, motioning for the young woman to sit down, as well.

Dakota lets out a breath as she joins Brennan on the blanket. She leans back against the trunk of a nearby tree and closes her eyes, her hand unconsciously going to her stomach and resting there.

Brennan shifts and takes out her cell phone. She sends a quick text to Booth, telling him that she and Dakota went out and will be back shortly, knowing that if he wakes up and she's nowhere to be found, he won't hesitate to call the search and rescue team. Parker, much like his father, would worry when he wakes up and his fiancée isn't there either.

"Dr. B?"

The sound of Dakota's soft, emotion-filled voice pulls Brennan from her musings. She turns her head and her only response is to raise an eyebrow.

"I—I know it's not the same because you and Mr. Booth had full-time jobs and were older than Parker and I are now, but how—how did you feel when you found out you were pregnant with Squirt?"

Brennan blinks.

"Parker told me she was a surprise." Dakota pauses. "Never mind. I shouldn't have asked. Just forget it."

Brennan shakes her head. "It's okay, Cody." She smiles. "I was scared. Our relationship, at the time, was very new. We were just starting to get used to the fact that we were exploring a social side to our relationship that exceeded friendship, and although we had both discussed the topic of children in the past and I had, at one point, expressed my desire to have a child with him, those discussions were dropped almost as quickly as they were brought up. We didn't have the chance to really talk about having children together, the old fashioned way, let alone contemplate the future of our relationship before I discovered I was pregnant."

Dakota nods.

Brennan swallows, contemplating whether or not she should continue. She already answered the question, after all. She sits with this conundrum for another minute before she finally decides to go on, realizing that because their situations are very similar, she may actually be able to help the girl if she keeps talking. She clears her throat and fiddles with her wedding bands, somehow gaining strength from them. "Because of the unexpectedness of the pregnancy, I feared that when I told Booth about it, he would be angry with me or upset. This fear was irrational and unwarranted because I had no evidence to prove he would take the news badly. I mean, he loved Parker and had expressed that he would want another child, if given the chance, but there was still the small detail of how sudden all of this was. We were only in a romantic relationship for a little over a month, at this point, and I could not overlook that."

"He was happy, though, right?"

Brennan smiles just thinking about that night so many years ago. "Yes. I have never been very good at reading people's expressions and deducing their emotions, but at first he looked almost sad, and I was almost more afraid to tell him that he was the father than I had been to tell him I was pregnant, but when I made the paternity clear, he," she swallows, "he smiled. It was the kind of smile that he usually only reserved for when he spent time with Parker or mentioned him in conversation. His eyes seemed to light up then and there was a sheen to them that told me he was trying not to cry. Right then, in that moment, I realized that I was scared for absolutely no reason at all."

Dakota blinks back tears, inwardly cursing the newly secreting hormones.

"When I finally told Angela and once she stopped screaming, she told me that I just made Booth the happiest man on the planet. While it would be impossible for her to know that, I believed it—if his smile that night was any indication of how happy he was." Brennan reaches out and places her hand on top of Dakota's. "I know you're scared. The timing is hardly ideal and this is not how you or Parker envisioned this happening when you talked about having a child together, but trust me when I say this, Parker will be thrilled. I've known him since he was four years old and he is so much like his father. He'll be shocked, of course, but after that initial shock wears off, he'll be happy." She squeezes the girl's hand. "He wants this, Cody. While he may not have wanted it right now, he does want to be a dad. You don't have to be scared. He loves you. I am confident that after you tell him you're pregnant, he will love you even more."

Dakota gets on her knees and throws her arms around Brennan.

Brennan blinks and without much hesitation, completes the embrace, rubbing soothing circles on the young woman's back.

Dakota sits back and swats at her cheeks. "Sorry."

"There's no reason for you to apologize, Cody."

"Thank you, Dr. B."

"Please call me Temperance. You are engaged to my son and are going to be having his child. You're family."

Dakota can't help giving the older woman another hug. When she separates from Brennan, she sniffles and rubs her eyes with her knuckles.

"Do you want to go back to the house?"

"Um, you think we can just hang out here for a little while longer?"

Brennan nods. "Sure." She smiles and looks around the small park, observing the dozen or so people who already occupy it despite how early it still is.

Dakota leans back against the tree and closes her eyes. She hopes Brennan's right and that Parker will be happy about her pregnancy. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. They were supposed to graduate school and get married first before even thinking about trying for a baby, but apparently the universe had other plans for them. Her hand finds its way to her stomach again and she lets out a breath. Then it finally hits her for real. She's pregnant. She's having a baby. _Holy crap._

* * *

The two women spend a little over an hour at the park before finally heading back to the house. Brennan pulls into the driveway and inches Parker's compact car into the garage beside his father's SUV. After killing the engine and removing the key, she looks over at her passenger, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I can send Parker out to the car if you'd like. Perhaps you and him can drive around for a little while, have some privacy?"

"I don't think telling Parker I'm pregnant while he's driving a car is a good idea."

Brennan laughs. "Yes, you are probably correct."

"But, um, can you send him out here? I think I know the perfect place to tell him, but we gotta drive there."

Brennan nods. "Certainly."

"And, um, Dr, I mean, Temperance, I know Mr. Booth will ask you where we were and why and I can't ask you to lie to him, but can we please keep this between us? It won't be for long. I just think Parker will want to tell his dad himself when we get back."

"Of course. This is your secret, not mine. You and Parker should be the ones to tell other people."

Dakota smiles. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Brennan lets out a breath, sticks the key back in the ignition, and climbs out of the car. She stops, turning back around and leaning into the car, supporting herself on the still open door. "I know your mother works a lot and you've expressed in the past that she isn't the easiest person to talk to since your father passed away, and while I'm not sure I am much better in this department, if you wish to talk to someone, and Parker is not available, you can always talk to me. I'll try my best to give you meaningful and pertinent advice. I am also here to listen if that is all you require."

Dakota nods. "Thanks," she repeats, though it doesn't even begin to cover her gratitude.

"I'll send Parker right out." Brennan shuts the door and heads into the house.

* * *

The minute Brennan steps into the kitchen, as she expected, Booth begins to press her for details. She shakes her head and looks him straight in the eye. "I can't tell you, Booth." She turns to Parker, who's sitting at the counter, just finishing up his bowl of _Cinnamon Toast Crunch_. "Hey, Parker, Cody's waiting for you in the car."

Parker swallows his final bite and looks at his stepmom, his brows furrowed. "What? Why didn't she come in with you?"

Brennan shrugs. "You'll have to ask her that, Honey." She glances at his attire and stifles a laugh. "I think you should hurry upstairs and get dressed first, though. It sounds as if she wants you and her to drive somewhere."

"Should I be scared? I mean, my fiancée skipped out on me this morning without any word and now she won't even come in the house and wants me and her to drive to a random place, that's never good, right? Right?" Parker gets up, abandoning his bowl on the counter and disappearing into the elevator.

Booth rests his hand flat on the granite countertop and watches his son's retreating back before turning his focus back to his wife. "Bones, what's up?"

Brennan glances upwards, a hint of a smirk on her lips. "The ceiling, the light fixture, the stain from when you overzealously flipped that pancake last summer—."

Booth grunts. "Bones, stop, I'm serious. You're keeping something from me and I don't like it. We don't keep secrets from each other. When we have in the past, it didn't end well. Please, what's going on?"

Brennan shakes her head. "I. Cannot. Tell. You." She pauses. "It has nothing to do with me or us directly, so you can stop giving me the third degree like I'm one of the criminals we interrogate. You will find out what's going on soon enough. Be patient." She steps closer to him and meets his questioning gaze with one of her own. "You trust me, don't you?"

He sighs. "Of course I do."

"Then trust that if this was such a serious issue that truly affected our relationship in any way, I would tell you."

He nods. "It's just that in the past when we've kept secrets from each other, they were really, really big secrets and they almost nearly destroyed our relationship."

She presses her hand against his chest and smiles. "This is not my secret to tell, Booth, so stop asking me to tell you because I won't."

He dips his head and gives her a quick peck on the lips. "Okay, I'll stop."

"Thank you." She drops her hands and walks to the elevator, passing Parker on the way.

"Going out. Not sure when I'll be back." Parker waves and makes his way down the hallway to the garage.

Booth just shrugs, feeling defeated. He can usually get Brennan to crack, but apparently not this time. It's extremely frustrating. He walks outside on the deck, where Christine is teaching Henry some karate kick thing.

* * *

Parker hops in the driver's seat of the car and buckles his seatbelt. Deciding to just go with the flow, he looks at his fiancée and smiles. "Where to, Love?" He teases with a smirk.

Dakota shifts, instantly feeling more relaxed. "Head out of this street and turn left, then right, then keep going straight until you get to the mini-golf course. Once you get to the mini-golf course, turn right. I'll tell you when to stop. The place we're going is on that road."

Parker nods and turns the key, bringing the car back to life. He shifts gears and backs out of the garage and out of the driveway, before putting the car in drive and gradually picking up speed, leaving their street and heading for the main road. He has no idea what this mystery place is, but he'll follow the directions Dakota gave him and hopefully he'll soon find out why she's acting so damn weird today.

* * *

Parker pulls the car into a small unpaved parking lot in the middle of nowhere. He doesn't recognize this place at all, which means he's never been here before. He sighs. He thought maybe if he saw the place and recognized it, then he would know exactly why Dakota wanted to bring him here. He turns the key and rolls down the window, looking around. There is nothing around, but trees. There's one person sleeping on a picnic table bench in the shade, but that's about it. He can hear the sound of rushing water too. He looks at his fiancée and raises an eyebrow. "Where are we?"

"You'll see." Dakota unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car, a genuine smile on her face. She unbuttons her shorts and pushes them off her hips. She pulls her tank top off next, so she's standing in front of the car in nothing but her teal bra and underwear. She turns around, looking at Parker through the windshield. "Are you coming?"

Parker shakes out of his surprise and gets out of the car, trying but failing not to look her up and down.

"Cody, you're in your underwear—in public!"

Dakota smirks. "Thanks for the insight, Captain Obvious." She heads for the edge of the parking lot and looks down. "Isn't it beautiful?"

He picks up her shorts and shirt and steps up beside her, thrusting them towards her. "Put these back on. You could get arrested for indecent exposure or something."

"Relax, Parkster. I'll just tell the cops it's a bikini." She laughs and gives him a light smack on the arm when he stares at her, open-mouthed. "I'm only kidding. I'm not gonna get arrested."

He finally looks over the edge and his eyes widen. "Oh, it's a swimming hole."

"Yeah. My mom loves waterfalls and they went to Niagara Falls for their second anniversary. That's when my mom told him she was pregnant with me. My dad told me that story and he said that he promised to take her to every waterfall in the United Sates and once he finished that, they'd visit all the waterfalls in the world or as many as they could. He took my mom here a few months before he died. My mom was pregnant with Makayla then. He said it was perfect. My mom said it was beautiful." She took his hand and slid her fingers through his. "When your dad and Temperance—."

"Since when do you call Bones, Temperance?"

"She told me I could call her that this morning because—." She trails off, not ready to spill the beans just yet.

"Because why?"

She lets go of his hand and tugs on it as she makes her way to the stairs that are carved from rock in the side of the cliff. "C'mon! Let's go take a closer look."

He shrugs and tears off his shirt, socks, and sneakers, before following her down the steps leading to the large pool and waterfall below.

She beats him there and jumps in without any hesitation. She disappears under the surface and her head pops up a few seconds later. She treads water while she frantically motions for Parker to join her. "Would you hurry up, slow poke? The water's perfect. Ah." She lies on her back, floating, until she gets splashed when Parker cannonballs into the water.

He dips under the water, swimming over to her. "You're right, the water's great." He does a flip underwater and dogpaddles around her. "Is there a reason you brought me out here? I mean, I know your dad brought your mom here and everything 'cause she likes waterfalls, but is there another reason you decided to take me here? It's just so…random. You've been acting really weird today and I just…I guess I just wanna know what's wrong."

She sighs. "Let's go check out the waterfall." She starts to swim towards it, but he grabs her by the ankle, stopping her. She turns back to face him and finally meets his eyes.

"You're stalling, Cody. Please, what's going on? Are you okay? Are _we _okay?" He pauses. "Let's go sit down over there."

She nods and follows him over to the edge.

He climbs out first, helping her out, and then they both sit on the edge of the pool, their feet in the water. He twists his body towards her and reaches for her hands, taking them in both of his. He gives her a confused but worried look, urging her without any words to tell him what the heck is going on with her, with them.

She takes a deep breath and lets it out. She feels him squeeze her hands and she looks into his golden-brown eyes. "Parker, I—."

"What?"

"I'm—I'm pregnant."

His hands go slack and his eyes open just a tad bit more. "Preg—pregnant? As in we're having a baby?"

She nods. "Yeah."

His lips slowly curve into a huge grin and his eyes gloss over with a thin layer of tears. "It is mine, right?"

She laughs and punches him playfully on the chest. "Of course it's yours!"

He smiles as wide as possible, a glint in his eyes that hadn't been there moments before when they were swimming. "A baby…wow," he swallows, "I…wow. I'm gonna be a dad?" He looks up at the sky. "Ya hear that, mom? I'm gonna be a dad!"

Dakota heaves a sigh of relief, watching his face and attitude transform right before her eyes.

He finally calms down a bit and looks at Dakota, his smile still just as bright as before.

"I know it's not like we talked about, but—."

He cuts her off by leaning in and crashing his lips against hers. He wraps his arms around her and deepens the kiss as her arms snake around his neck. He pulls back and brushes her damp hair out of her face, his fingers lingering against her temple and cheek a little longer than necessary. "We're gonna have a baby," he whispers.

She pushes him off the edge and into the water.

He comes up spluttering and mock glaring at her. "Hey!"

She just shrugs, biting back laughter.

He hangs on the edge, treading water and looking up at her. He holds her gaze for a long minute, both of them not uttering a single word.

She smiles at him, clearly seeing the happiness written all over his face. Brennan had been right. She had no reason to be scared—not about telling Parker about the baby, at least.

He presses a kiss to her knee and points to the waterfall. "C'mon. Let's go check out those falls now."

She pushes off and slides into the water.

He catches her before she slips under and plants another deep kiss on her lips, resting her forehead against hers for a moment, while they catch their breath. He turns his head slightly, so his lips hover above her ear, and whispers, "I love you."

She smiles and whispers back, "I love you too."

While they support themselves on the edge of the pool, he rests his hand on her stomach and looks into her emerald eyes. "Our baby's in there," he says, unable to mask the excitement in his voice, not that he has any reason to.

She nods, placing her hand on top of his. "Mmhmm." She closes her eyes for a second and feels his lips on hers once more, their hands still joined on her stomach.

* * *

After stopping for some ice cream, Parker and Dakota walk back into the house. Just before they reach the kitchen, however, Dakota grabs Parker's arm, pulling him back to her.

He looks at her, confusion and surprise evident in his expression. "What?"

She slips her hand in the grocery bag she's carrying and pulls out a cardboard box, holding it up for him. "I took two at the store with Temperance, but if you want, we can go upstairs and, you know, take another."

He takes the box and looks down at it, brushing his hand against the smooth cardboard. "I wish you would have waited for me to take the test in the first place, but I guess this will have to do." He pauses. "But I—I wanna tell my dad first. I'll meet you upstairs."

She nods, leaning up to give him a small kiss on the lips.

"Parky!" Henry comes barreling down the hallway, nearly knocking his older brother into the wall. "Hi."

Dakota quickly steals the box back before Henry has a chance to see it and heads for the elevator. "I'll meet you upstairs."

Parker nods and bends down, lifting his little brother up.

"Ewwww. You're all wet." Henry squirms.

Parker sets him back down. "Lead the way, Mister."

Henry runs back to the kitchen, Parker hot on his heels.

"Hey, buddy, where's dad?"

"Der," Henry points to the doors leading onto the porch, "wif mommy."

"Thanks, buddy." Parker messes up his little brother's hair and heads outside.

* * *

Parker finds Booth and Brennan in the hammock, wrapped in each other's arms. He walks quietly because they appear to be asleep from his vantage point, but as he gets closer, he soon realizes they're just relaxing with their eyes closed, talking softly to one another. "Um, dad?"

Booth cracks open an eye, continuing to stroke Brennan's arm as he speaks. "Hey, Bub. Everything okay?"

Parker nods, a smile creeping back onto his face the second he thinks about what transpired an hour ago. "Yeah, everything's fine, I just—I really wanna talk to you," he looks at Brennan, "alone."

Booth presses a kiss to Brennan's hair. "I'll be right back, Bones." He carefully removes himself from the hammock and walks over to his son.

Brennan opens her eyes and rolls over. She catches Parker's eye and mouths a silent 'congratulations', which is met with an exuberant smile and a small nod in thanks.

"Where do you want to go?"

Parker shrugs. "Doesn't matter. I just need to tell you something."

"Let's go downstairs."

Parker nods and follows his dad down the steps to the basement.

* * *

Parker and Booth walk into the movie theater and Booth locks the door before taking the seat to the right of his son. "Okay, Pal, what's going on?"

Parker swallows, shifting on the leather. "Dakota, she, um, took me to this waterfall slash swimming hole in the middle of nowhere about a half hour from here and she told me this story about her mom loving waterfalls and her dad promising her mom to take her to every single waterfall in the world. This place was really cool. You should take Bones there before we leave." He pauses. "But that's not what I need to tell you. Um, the reason Cody took me there was because, uh, she, she wanted to tell me that she's, that we're—."

"Just spit it out, buddy."

Parker nods. "Cody's pregnant."

Booth blinks. Of all the secrets that he thought of Brennan keeping from him, Dakota being pregnant hadn't crossed his mind at all. "Oh?"

"That's why her and Bones left so early this morning. They went to the store to buy a pregnancy test, so Cody could find out for sure."

Booth just nods, unable to speak.

"We were careful. I mean, she's on birth control, but I guess it failed or something. It's not 100 percent, you know."

Booth laughs. "Trust me, I know," he mutters, not bitterly in the least.

"We both wanted to wait until after we graduated, got married, and had stable pay, but God, I guess, had other plans. You said, after the accident, that God kept me here for a reason, maybe this is it." Parker sighs. "Are you mad?"

Booth shakes his head and smiles at his son. "No, Bub, I'm not mad. I can't be mad. You're young, but I can't be mad at you for something that happened to me more than once. I'm happy for you. I know how much you love Cody. I know you'll step up and be the man she and your kid need."

Parker smiles, giving his dad a quick hug. "When she told me about the baby, I almost didn't believe her, you know?"

Booth nods. "Yeah, I do, son."

After a couple minutes of silence, Parker breaks it. "I know you said you're not mad this happened, but are you disappointed in me?"

"No, not at all. You're young and having a kid is a lot of responsibility, but I know you can handle it. You and Cody can do it. I have faith in you and I'm proud of you." Booth pauses. "But I'm too young to be a grandfather," he half jokes.

Parker laughs. "You're not _that_ young." He pauses and amends his previous statement. "I mean, you'll be the coolest grandfather ever!"

Booth pulls his son into a headlock and messes up his hair.

Parker screams and tries to pry the arm from around his neck. "Hey! Don't kill me before I even meet my kid."

Booth lets go and shakes his head. "C'mon. I'll make Grilled Cheese. This calls from some celebration."

"I gotta do something first. Cody's got an extra pregnancy test and since I missed the official test, she's gonna do it again so I can be there, so we can wait for the results together."

Booth nods. "There will be grilled cheese sandwiches waiting for you when you two are done." He stands up and Parker gets up shortly after. He pulls his son into a hug and smiles. "Your mom would be proud of you too, you know."

Parker nods. "Yeah, I know." He pauses. "I'm gonna be a dad, dad!" He laughs.

Booth nudges his towards the door. "Get upstairs, Bub. Your girl is waiting for you."

Parker runs up the steps, and deciding to bypass the elevator, he bolts up the stairs to the fourth floor.

Booth shakes his head. "Oh, man. My kid is having a kid. I'm too young for this," he mumbles and heads upstairs to rejoin Brennan on the hammock.


	7. November 2021 (Part I)

**_A/N: Since the majority of you guys wanted to see some of Dakota's pregnancy, I decided to change things up a bit and instead of summer vacation, the next few chapters will take place during Thanksgiving. They're still going on vacation, though, but instead of North Carolina, they're going to Florida with Angela, Hodgins, Michael Vincent, and Billy. _**

**_Hope you like it :)_**

* * *

Brennan's sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV on the way to the airport. She tugs on the seatbelt and glances at her watch. She sighs and turns her head, looking into the backseat, where Christine and Henry are in the middle of an intense game of 'I Spy'. She smiles and faces forward again.

At the next red light they catch, Booth tears his eyes away from the traffic and turns to Brennan.

She senses his eyes on her so she looks at him, one eyebrow raised. "What?"

He shakes his head. "You're awfully quiet, that's all."

She shrugs. "I was just thinking about how we should have left the house earlier this morning. I hope we don't miss our flight."

"We've got plenty of time, Bones."

"It's a few days before Thanksgiving, Booth. The airport is bound to be busy."

"Busy or not, we've got plenty of time. If, and that's a big if, we miss our flight, we'll just book the next one. No biggie."

She nods and turns her head to look out the window. "I'm excited to see the house in person. I've only seen pictures. Angela says the photographs don't do it justice."

"You know what I'm most looking forward to?"

"No, what?"

"Going to the beach in November." He nudges her in the arm and then eases on the gas, inching the vehicle forward.

She laughs and shifts on the seat. "Yes, that will be nice."

"Henry! That's gross," Christine shrieks, plugging her nose and frantically trying to open the window.

Henry giggles and shrugs his shoulders. "'Cuse me." He pauses. "I canted hold it no more. I was gonna explode!"

Christine sticks her whole head out the window and takes a deep breath.

Booth rolls down all the other windows in attempt to air out the car. He doesn't care if it's a natural bodily function. It's still disgusting.

"A little warning next time would be nice, Little Alien, or better, just wait until I'm at least fifty feet away before you let one go. Geez." Christine keeps her head out the window until she's sure she'll be able to breathe normally again.

"Sorry."

Brennan turns her head and looks at her son. "Do you have to go to the bathroom, Honey?"

Henry shakes his head. "No, mommy." He kicks his legs in his booster seat and tugs on the constricting seatbelt.

Brennan nods and faces forwards again.

Booth pulls into the airport parking lot and turns the key, removing it from the ignition. He hops out and walks to the back of the SUV. He opens the trunk and proceeds to pull the suitcases out and set them on the asphalt.

While he does that, Brennan helps Henry out of the car, holding his hand while he jumps.

Christine heaves her backpack over her shoulders and walks over to her dad. She goes to reach for her suitcase, but is intercepted.

"Don't worry about that, Princess. I'll get it."

"I can get it myself, Dad. It's not that heavy and it's got wheels." Christine pushes the button on the handle and pulls upwards, extending the handle. She kicks the suitcase until it's tilted on its two wheels and pulls it behind her. She sits down on the bench at the bus stop and waits for her mom, dad, and little brother to join her.

Brennan retrieves her luggage and Henry's before Booth has a chance to argue with her and joins her daughter under the bus stop awning.

Booth double-checks to make sure they didn't forget anything and then shuts the trunk. He locks up the car and stands near the bus stop, leaning against one of the outside support posts.

Five minutes later, the four of them are sitting inside the economy parking bus on their way to the terminal.

* * *

Brennan walks back from the small airplane restroom with Henry in front of her.

The little boy climbs back into his seat and buckles his seatbelt. He turns his upper body completely to the oval window and looks out into the clouds. He pokes at the window and smiles. "Mommy, we're in a cloud!"

She sits down and nods, chancing a glance across the aisle, where Booth and Christine are both asleep. She clicks her seatbelt back into place and looks out the window. "Yes, we're flying through clouds right now."

"So cool!" He kicks his legs and scrunches up his face. "My ears feel funny, Mommy. Make them stop."

She shifts and reaches below the seat in front of her. She grabs her purse and fumbles around inside before pulling out a pack of gum. She breaks a stick in half and hands one of the pieces to him. "This should help, Honey."

He nods and puts the gum into his mouth, chewing on it. He smiles and looks back out the window. "Thanks, Mommy."

She messes up his hair and nods. "You're welcome." She reaches into the seat-back pocket and retrieves her iPod. She unravels the headphone and taps Henry on the shoulder. "Do you want to listen to some music?"

He nods and takes the music player from her.

She puts the headphones on him and pulls a book from the seat-back pocket. She cracks it open to the page she left off at and looks over at Henry, who's still looking out the window, but is now bobbing his head to the music. She smiles and turns her focus to her book.

* * *

Seven minutes later, Henry pulls the headphones from his ears and looks at his mom, who has fallen asleep with her book fanned out over her lap. He unbuckles his seatbelt and carefully and quietly slips out into the aisle.

Christine opens one eye, just in time to see her brother take a step in the direction of the cockpit. "Don't even think about it, Little Alien."

He stops, turning around. "Uh-oh."

"C'mere." Christine sits up more and rubs the sleep from her eyes.

He walks over to her and climbs up into her lap, leaning back into her. "Mommy's sleeping." He points to Brennan across the aisle.

"So is dad, so you gotta be quiet."

He zips his lips and pretends to throw away the key.

She grabs a sketchpad from the seat-back pocket and a pack of colored pencils. She lowers the tray table and sets the pad and pencils down. She opens the sketchpad to an empty page and dumps the colored pencils halfway out of the box so he can see all the colors. "Have at it, Little Alien." She pats his head and slips her headphones back into her ears. She switches songs and leans back in the chair, closing her eyes. "Don't go wondering off, got it?"

He beams and shifts in her lap. "Uh-huh." He grabs a blue pencil and gets to work drawing a sky. Eventually he falls asleep, curled up on his big sister's lap, his head resting against her shoulder.

* * *

As Booth and Brennan are standing by a conveyor belt, waiting for their luggage to arrive, something—err—some_one_ catches Henry's eye. The little boy is sitting with his sister in the chairs by the window, a few steps away from their parents, playing Angry Birds on Christine's iPod. "Stupid pigs," he mutters. Frustrated, he looks up and his eyes widen. He slips off the chair, setting the MP3 player down where his butt had just been, and takes off before his sister even notices he's gone. "Parky!" He leaps into his brother's arms, nearly knocking him over.

Parker catches him and spins him around. "Little Man." He kisses him on the cheek and repositions the boy to his hip. "Hey."

Henry wraps his arms around Parker's neck and gives him a wet kiss on the cheek.

"Did ya miss me?"

Henry shakes his head. "Nope."

"You didn't? Not even a little bit?"

"Nope." Henry rests his head on his big brother's shoulder and closes his eyes.

"Well, I missed you."

Henry's head pops up again. "You did?"

"You bet, buddy." Parker carries Henry over to the chairs by the window and sits down. He pushes Christine's book down, effectively getting her attention.

Christine scowls and turns her head, ready to give her little brother a piece of her mind, only to be met by her older brother's smiling face. "Parky!" She closes her book and hugs him hard. "Mom and dad said you weren't coming."

Parker shrugs. "That's 'cause we weren't coming."

"We? Cody's here too?" Christine looks around. "Where?"

"She just went to the bathroom. She'll be back in a minute. Where are Bones and dad?"

"Getting our suitcases." Christine gives him another hug. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispers into his neck. When she pulls back, she punches him not-so-playfully in the arm.

"Ow. What the Hell was that for, Teeny?"

"That's for pushing my book down _and_ not telling me you were coming." Christine smiles at him and crosses her arms over her chest.

Booth and Brennan haul the suitcases and Henry's car seat over to where they had left the kids. They both stop short when they notice Parker sitting there with Henry on his lap. Brennan's the first to speak. "Parker?"

Parker turns his head and stands up, setting Henry down on the chair in his place. "Something came up, so we decided to come after all," he says, answering their unasked question.

Booth lets go of the luggage handles and pulls his son into a hug. He steps back after a long minute and rests his hands on Parker's shoulders, giving him a gentle shake. "Glad you could make it, Bub. Where's Cody?"

"I'm right here, Mr. Booth." Dakota walks up from behind.

Booth smiles. "Look at you. How are you doing?"

Dakota places a hand on her protruding belly and glances over at Parker, a small smile gracing her lips. "I'm doing okay."

"And the baby? Baby's okay?"

"Oh, the baby is perfect." Dakota winces slightly, rubbing her side.

Parker's eyes widen. "What's wrong?"

Dakota shakes her head. "Nothing's wrong. The baby just kicked. He's strong."

"He?" Booth questions.

"Or she." Dakota laughs.

"Should we tell them?" Parker asks, smirking at her.

Brennan shifts her weight from her left leg to her right. "Tell us what?"

Parker gives his fiancée another look, his grin growing wider and slightly more mischievous. With a small nod from her, he turns back to Brennan and his dad. He takes Dakota's hand and gives her fingers a small squeeze. "Well, Cody had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and—."

Booth fiddles around with the items in his pocket, looking between his son and future daughter-in-law. "And what?"

"We know if we're having a boy or a girl."

Brennan raises an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Yeah, well?" Booth chimes in.

"It's a—."

Henry looks up from Christine's iPod, finally realizing that his parents are standing there. "Mommy, look, Parky's here!" He slips from the chair and points at his big brother. "Do you see him, Mommy?"

Brennan nods. "Yes, I do see him, Honey." She presses her finger to her lips. "Shhh. Parker was just about to tell us some exciting news."

"I'm hungry, Mommy."

"We'll eat something when we get to the house, okay?"

Henry pouts. "But I'm hungry now! My tummy's yelling at me. He says," he distorts his voice as he continues, "'Feed me now'."

Brennan checks her watch and sighs.

Parker nods. "Hey, we'll tell you guys at the house. I'm sure Angela and Hodgins wanna know too. That way we don't have to say it twice, you know?"

Brennan nods. "That makes sense." She looks at Booth. "Do you have the paperwork for the rental car?"

Booth nods. "Yep."

"Let's get going then." Brennan looks at Christine, who seems to be in her own world, having picked up her book again. "Sweetheart, we're going to go get the rental car now and go out for a late lunch before driving to the house. Come on."

Christine nods, putting her book away in her backpack and standing up. "Hi, Cody." She gives her future sister-in-law a hug and smiles.

Henry lets go of his mom's hand and looks at Dakota. "Why is your tummy so big? Did you growed a watermelon in there?"

Dakota smiles. "Sometimes it feels like that, Little Dude, but no." She pauses. "There's a baby in my belly."

Henry gasps, letting out a small scream. "You eated a baby!"

Dakota stifles a laugh. "I didn't eat a baby, buddy."

"How it get in there?" Henry pokes Dakota's belly, looking up at her with curious brown eyes.

"Well—."

"Whoa, Ho, look at the time. We need to get going."

Brennan gives Booth a weird look, but shrugs. "Your dad's correct. We should go." She pauses and hands Henry his suitcase.

A loud growl from Henry's stomach causes him to abandon his line of questioning for more pressing matters. "I want a hamburger and fries, Mommy."

"When we go to lunch, you can order a hamburger and fries, then." Brennan holds out her hand and he takes it.

Henry grips the handle of his little _Thomas the Tank Engine_ suitcase and pulls it beside him as he walks beside his mom towards the elevator.

Parker and Dakota start to follow them, but Booth gently grabs his son's arm. Parker turns his head and arches an eyebrow. "Yeah, Dad?"

"So am I gonna have a grandson or a granddaughter?"

"Nice try, but you'll find out when everyone else does." Parker laughs and he and Dakota head for the elevator, following shortly behind Christine.

Booth sighs. "It was worth a shot," he mutters.

"C'mon, Booth!"

"I'm coming, Bones," he calls back, picking the car seat up from the chair he set it down on, grabbing the handle of his suitcase, and then making his way to the elevator a few feet away.


	8. November 2021 (Part II)

**_Sorry for the delay. I've been on vacation for the past week, but finally found some time to crank this chapter out. I saw this chapter going in a completely different direction, but I hope you like it._**

* * *

Booth turns onto the correct street and inches along, paying close attention to the house numbers on the mailboxes as he drives past the houses, each seeming to get grander and more expensive looking than the one next door. "What's the number again, Bones?"

Brennan rolls her eyes. "I've told you five times already, Booth." She sighs. "1842. It should be the sixth one on the left."

"Thanks. What would I do without ya?" He winks at her and taps on the steering wheel while he drives the car around the bend.

"Get lost, I suppose." She winks back, turning to look out the window again.

"Ah. Here we are." He just barely misses plowing through the closed garage door as he gets a good look at the place they'll be calling home for the next seven days through the windshield. "You didn't tell me it was so—ginormus."

She shrugs, pushing down to release her seatbelt. "I showed you the pictures Angela emailed me. I would think you could have deduced that this house is, as you so eloquently stated, _ginormus._"

"Yeah, I knew it was big, but Bones, we could fit at least six of our D.C. house in this place. I mean, our vacation house is not exactly small either, but this, this is a whole other level of big."

"Does the magnitude of this dwelling make you uncomfortable?"

"No. I just wasn't expecting it to be this—this—."

"Big?"

"Yeah. You know what? Size doesn't matter."

"I beg to differ," she whispers, a little huskier than normally.

Christine makes an exaggerated gagging sound in the backseat. "You think you're being subtle, but you're not…not really."

"That is not what I meant." Booth turns his head and looks at his daughter. "And how do you even know what that means?"

"I'm ten. I go to school. I have friends. I watch TV. Plus, mom just used her flirting voice. It's not that hard to figure out the double meaning, Dad." Christine looks out the window at the house. "I wanna see the inside. I bet it'll be like living in a castle." She quickly unbuckles her seatbelt and jumps out of the car. "There's a pool right?"

Brennan nods. "Angela says it's an indoor-outdoor pool and there's a waterslide and diving board."

"Sweet!" Christine runs to the front door, where Angela is standing in the entryway, smiling. "Auntie Angela, this place is awesome."

"You haven't seen anything yet, Sweetie. We'll give you a tour once your mom and dad drag their slow butts inside."

"Mom! Dad! Get your butts in here!"

Brennan appears in the doorway with Henry by her side, holding his hand, and narrows her eyes at her ten year-old.

"Please?"

Henry lets go of Brennan's hand and launches himself into Angela's arms. "Auntie Angel!"

Angela chuckles and hugs him back. "Whoa there, Little One." She sets him down and messes up his hair. "Hi."

"Hi. We flied on a plane, a big, big, big plane. We flied through clouds too. It was so cool, but my ears feeled funny. I didn't like that part at all."

"That's my least favorite part of flying too."

"Guess what, Auntie Angel?"

"What?"

"Parky and Cody are here!" Henry jumps up and down.

"Hey, now it's a party." Angela holds up her hand, inviting Henry to give her a high five, which he accepts. "Jack left with the boys to go food shopping. We weren't exactly sure when you guys would show your faces," she says, addressing Brennan.

"We would have been here sooner, but we stopped for lunch on the way here from the airport."

Booth walks into the foyer with his hands full with luggage. "A little help here," he asks, his voice strained.

Brennan takes Henry's small suitcase from Booth's arms and Henry's backpack from Booth's shoulder.

Booth lets out a relieved sigh and drops his hands from around Brennan's and Christine's suitcases' handles. "Hi, Ange." He turns around and heads back to the SUV to retrieve his own suitcase.

"I don't understand why he had to carry all of this in one load when he had to take a second trip back to the car anyway. I already know and admire how strong he is physically. He doesn't have to show off. He could have injured himself."

"He's a man, Sweetie. We will never understand them just like they'll never understand us—even if they think they do. I stopped trying to understand Jack a long time ago."

"I suppose you're right." Brennan shakes her head. _Typical alpha male. _She laughs and tells Christine to grab her suitcase. She hands Henry his backpack and pushes down the handle of her own bag.

"I'll show you four to your rooms once Booth gets back inside."

The next person to enter through the doorway isn't Booth, but Cody. She smiles at Angela and gives her a hug. She steps back and brushes her hair out of her face. "I hope you and Dr. Hodgins don't mind."

"Oh, please. We don't mind at all. The more, the merrier, I say." Angela beams at the younger woman and glances down at her growing abdomen. "How's everything?"

Dakota places a hand on her stomach and can't help but smile. "Everything is wonderful." She pauses. "We have some news to share with everyone."

Angela raises an eyebrow. "What news?"

Dakota feels an arm snake around her shoulders and smiles when she turns her head and sees her fiancé standing beside her. "Hey." She pauses and after sharing a small smirk with Parker, she turns back to Angela. "Oh, very exciting news."

"They found out the baby's sex yesterday, Angela," Brennan supplies.

"Oh, oh! So? Is it a boy or a girl?"

Dakota shakes her head. "We want to wait until everyone is here."

"I'll go call Jack and tell him to hurry up." Angela disappears into the kitchen and grabs the phone.

"Angela, you were going to show us to our rooms."

"Oh, right, Bren, I was. Just give me two minutes and I'll take you all on the grand tour of the place."

* * *

A couple minutes later, Angela makes her way back into the foyer. "Okay, where should we start?"

"We should start upstairs, so that we can put our suitcases in our rooms to get them out of the entry way." Brennan pauses. "Oh, that was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?"

Angela smiles. "Yes, but that's a good idea. Let's go upstairs." She leads the six of them up the spiral staircase and left down the hallway. She stops in front of the first door and looks at Henry. "This is gonna be your room, Little One. You wanna check it out?"

Henry claps his hand and nods. "Yeah!" He walks past Angela into the room and drops his backpack on the floor. He looks around and runs over to the beds, which are shaped and painted like authentic race cars. He leaps onto one of the mattresses and looks at his mom. "Mommy, I want a car bed in my room too." He scoots down to the foot of the bed where there's a steering wheel and controls. He pushes some of the buttons, getting more and more excited about the bed each time a new sound effect echoes through the adequate sized space. "This is sooo cool."

Angela and Brennan share a smile before the former nods and says, "You and Billy will be sharing this room."

Henry doesn't even acknowledge her. He's in his own little world now. He's having too much fun exploring this new bed to even remember that there are six other people in the room with him.

"Come on. There's more house to see." Angela leads them into the hall again, leaving Henry to his exploration.

Christine's room is next. The thing she loves the most about it besides the full sized, four poster bed is the mural of a nighttime cityscape of Paris, based on a photograph Angela took the time she and Jack lived there years ago. Next, is Michael Vincent's room, which is pretty simple; red walls, dark wood furniture, and one wall that has several skateboards on display. Their final stop upstairs is the room Booth and Brennan will be staying in for their week-long vacation. There's nothing really noteworthy about the space, except for maybe the size, the huge Jacuzzi tub in the adjoining bathroom, and the balcony that overlooks the ocean. There are high ceilings, the walls are dark beige, a little more golden mustard in color, there's a flat screen TV mounted on the wall opposite the California king bed with two dark brown leather recliners situated in front of it, and there are splashes of deep red and green in the comforter, throw pillows, and rugs. It's got a cozy feeling to it and both Booth and Brennan can imagine that they will enjoy their time in here very much.

* * *

After finishing the tour, which ended with a tour of the game room slash theater in the basement, all of them, including Hodgins, Michael Vincent, and Billy, who had arrived to the house shortly after the group of seven came back upstairs, are sitting in the spacious living room. They're all gathered around the coffee table, waiting for Parker and Dakota to tell them the sex of their baby. The room is silent. The adults, plus Christine and Michael Vincent, are all getting impatient, as the seconds drag on. Billy and Henry, on the other hand, couldn't care less. The two youngest boys are playing with toy cars in front of the coffee table. "Tell us already," Angela blurts out. "Do I have a great niece or a great nephew?"

Parker laughs and glances at Dakota, giving her a nod. He stands up, pulling his fiancée to her feet as well. With an arm protectively around her waist and a hand delicately but protectively placed on her growing abdomen, he clears his throat and looks around at all the curious faces. "Okay." He lets out a breath. "It's a boy. I'm—we're gonna have a son."

After a round of claps, Dakota clears her throat to prevent any further congratulations. "So Parker and I haven't exactly been truthful with everyone the past five months. For the first few months, we decided to keep it a secret until I was further along and then we just decided to wait to share the news until after we found out the sex." She swallows. "What Parker said is true. We're having a boy, but that's not the whole truth." She looks at Parker and then continues. "We're also having a girl."

The whole group is stunned into silence at the announcement and they all look back and forth between them.

Angela's the first one to speak, though it's more like a squeal. "Oh my God!" She leaps up and gives Parker and Dakota a big hug, smiling wide.

Brennan finally regains her voice as well, though she's still a bit shocked. "Twins, wow. Is someone in your family a twin? Or has anyone in your family given birth to twins?"

Dakota shrugs. "I don't know. It's possible. I mean, I'm not really that close to any of my cousins or any of my family, really, except my mom and my little sister." She pauses. "No, wait, my grandmother on my mom's side was a twin, I think, but I never met him. He died before I was born."

Booth nudges Brennan. "Just smile and congratulate them, Bones."

Brennan looks at him and raises an eyebrow. "I was just curious, Booth."

"When are you _not_ curious," Booth teases, pressing a small kiss to her cheek. He reaches for his son's hand and shakes it, before pulling him into a hug. "Congratulations, Buddy."

"Thanks, Dad." Parker pauses. "I know caring for two babies at once is gonna take more work than just one, but we're excited. I just feel—I can't even explain it, Dad. It's amazing. The first time we heard their heartbeats, I thought I was gonna pass out. Is this how you felt?"

"Which time?"

"Any—all—whichever."

Booth beams. "Yeah, Bub. It's a pretty great feeling."

"The best."

"Eh, actually, the best feeling is holding your child for the first time." Booth pauses. "Your life will change, but for the better. You're right, taking care of two babies is going to be a lot of work, but being a parent, in general, is a big responsibility. Though, it's the most rewarding job you'll ever have."

Parker nods. "Thanks, Dad."

"For what?"

"For everything." Parker sighs. "I was kind of a jerk for the first few months after—after the accident, after mom died, and I just—thanks for that and thanks for everything else. I know it wasn't easy. My mom didn't exactly make it easy for you, either." He gives his dad another hug. "If I'm half the dad you have been for me, I'll be the best dad ever."

Booth clears his throat and blinks. "I love you too, Bub." He pauses. "So did you get a DVD or pictures from the doctor? I want to see my grandson and granddaughter."

Parker nods. "Yeah. Hold on." He walks over to Dakota, who's in the midst of having a conversation with Brennan and Angela, and whispers something in her ear, in which he gets a small nod and a directional point. He smiles and heads into the kitchen. He takes a plastic pouch from the front pocket of Dakota's purse and goes back into the living room. "We got a DVD from the doctor. Anyone want to see my—." With a look from his fiancée, he amends. "_Our_ son and daughter? The quality isn't very good, but it's pretty awesome."

The adults, in addition to Michael and Christine, nod their heads and get comfortable, sitting down again. "Pop that baby in," Hodgins says, shifting and getting comfortable.

Parker nods and kneels down in front of the TV. He sets everything up and presses play once he's sitting down on a beanbag chair with Dakota pressed against him, her arms wrapped around him and his arms wrapped around her. He kisses the side of her head and turns his focus to the screen, smiling at the grainy image of his son. "That's our boy. He was waving at us."

Booth smiles, remembering seeing Parker in all his grainy image glory so many years ago during the only appointment he was present for, the one where the doctor told him and Rebecca they were having a son. He'll never forget that moment—not ever. He turns to Brennan, who's now snuggled into his side, just as another memory resurfaces. It's of the two of them sitting in her office, looking at the TV, just as they are now, except instead of their grandchildren, it was their daughter they were looking at. He remembers seeing the flicker of her heart beating in her chest, her perfectly formed head, and her tiny fingers and toes. She was perfect.

Brennan scoots even closer to him, almost as if she's experiencing the same memory at the exact moment Booth is.

Booth lets out a breath as he listens to his oldest son point out that they're now looking at his baby girl, who is a little bit smaller than her brother, but twice as feisty. She had been kicking practically the whole time the video was recording. His mind drifts again, this time thinking about the day he found out that he was going to have another son. The second Brennan told him she was pregnant again, he knew, deep in his gut, that the baby was a boy, but seeing Henry on the screen, their Little Guy, even though Booth had been through this twice before already, it was amazing. The baby was perfect, the moment was perfect.

Brennan shifts, glancing up at him, though his eyes are now glued on the television screen as it changes to a view of both babies, side by side, in the their mother's uterus.

Booth's happy for Parker. He knows how it feels, becoming a parent, being a parent, and he's glad his son will get to experience this. After all, he always believed, and still does, that your life isn't complete until you have a child.

When the DVD ends, the adults resume a lighthearted conversation amongst themselves, while Christine and Michael Vincent disappear downstairs to play videogames and Billy and Henry take their cars upstairs to the room they'll be sharing for the week to play on the track.

* * *

**_FYI: Next chapter will be the final chapter for this section (November 2021). I hope to have it up by the end of the week._**


	9. November 2021 (Part III)

**_Got this chapter up quicker than I planned. Hope you enjoy it.._**

* * *

Brennan walks into the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning, finding Angela in there preparing the turkey. The counters are a mess with ingredients for other thanksgiving dinner staples and the floor is covered in flour. "Do you need some help?"

Angela jumps and turns around, picking up the first thing within her reach, which happens to be a basting brush. She breathes out when she realizes it's just Brennan. "Oh, Sweetie, good morning."

Brennan stifles a laugh, eyeing the basting brush. "If I were an intruder, were you planning to tickle me unconscious?"

Angela rolls her eyes and lets out a laugh herself.

"Good morning, Ange." Brennan smiles. "Do you need any help?" She asks again.

Angela nods. "I need you to run to the store and get another one pound bag of flour. I sort of dropped the first bag and it split open upon impact with the tile."

Brennan nods. "Sure, I can do that. I'll just go take a quick shower and then head to the store. Is there anything else we need?"

Angela starts to shake her head, but stops and claps her hands instead. "Pie crusts!"

Brennan cocks her head.

"I forgot the pie crusts."

Brennan nods. "Okay. Flour and pie crusts, got it." She pauses. "If you think of anything else, just call me."

"Will do, Sweetie."

Brennan smiles and heads upstairs, forgetting that she had come downstairs for a cup of coffee.

Angela turns back around to face the turkey and continues seasoning it before placing it into the preheated oven.

* * *

While Booth and Hodgins are in the living room watching a football game, Parker and Dakota, who have just come from the living room, are now sitting outside on the deck with cups of fresh-squeezed lemonade. Parker sets his glass down and turns his head towards his fiancée. He sighs, noticing the faraway look on her face and the way she's absently rubbing her stomach. "You feeling okay, Cody?"

Dakota nods, looking over at Parker. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She shrugs. "Do you think I'll be a good mother?"

He coughs, choking on his lemonade. "You'll be an amazing mom."

"You think?"

"I know." He takes her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze before pressing his lips against her palm.

She smiles and touches his cheek with the hand he just kissed. "It just kind of hit me. In less than four months, we're going to be parents. We're not ready. I'm not ready. My apartment is barely big enough for the two of us. There's no room for a crib, let alone two, and what about a dresser and a changing table and a bookshelf? But that's all we can afford right now. If we can't even afford an adequate apartment for our family, how are we going to afford two kids? Plus we have a wedding to plan and pay for. Where are we going to find the money to do that? Then there's the fact that I go to school here and you go to school 200 miles away." She finally breathes, shifting on the cushion.

"Hey, hey, hey, look, we're gonna be fine."

She narrows her eyes. "Were you even listening to me just now, Parker?"

"I know it's gonna be difficult, but trust me, we're gonna be fine."

She shakes her head. "Now I know you weren't listening." She pushes herself up and starts to walk towards the door that leads back into the house.

"Where are you going?"

"Inside. It's hot and I'm tired. I'm going to go lie down before dinner." She slides the door open and steps into the air-conditioning.

He stands up and steps closer to her. "Dakota, we're in the middle of a discussion. You can't just get up and walk away."

She just shrugs and continues on into the house.

He sighs and sinks back into the lounge chair, looking out at the ocean. "Just great."

* * *

An hour later, deciding that that is a sufficient amount of "cooling off time", Parker walks into the downstairs' guestroom he and Dakota are staying in until tomorrow, and finds his fiancée sitting in the window. He hovers in the doorway, feeling a little guilty for watching her in secret.

"I'm just feeling really overwhelmed," Dakota says, still looking out the window.

Parker jumps. He thought he was being quiet. Apparently what they say about mothers is true; they do have eyes in the back of their heads. He crosses the room and sits on the window seat.

"You think you're helping by pretending things will be fine when you know in reality there's a chance, a highly probable chance, that they won't be, but you're not helping, not really."

He sighs and reaches for her hands. "We'll figure it all out, Cody. We will." He pauses. "I was going to surprise you, but I think maybe you need some reassurance right now, so I'll tell you now. I have enough credits, so I'm graduating next month at the end of this semester. I've applied to some internships around Georgetown. Two of them are paid internships, so I hope I get one of those. I should hear back from them within two months."

She smiles softly, giving his hands a squeeze. "But what about graduate school? Those pamphlets have been on the kitchen table for almost four years now."

"When things _are_ fine, I'll go back to school. Besides, experience is basically more important these days anyway."

She nods.

"And I was listening to you, Cody. I heard everything you said earlier. You just walked away before I had a chance to tell you why I knew everything would be fine. It wasn't just a gut feeling." He pauses. "I have some money saved up, which is enough to rent a bigger place. In her will, my mom left me some money too. My dad has control of it now and I'm really not supposed to see a dime of it until I'm 25, but my dad will probably let me have some of it and I'm sure, if we need some extra cash, he and Bones will be willing to loan us some. Also, your best friend has been dying to throw you a baby shower since you told her you were pregnant, which will help with some of the baby stuff. Bones already said we could have Christine's old nursery furniture and I'm sure if we ask, we can have Henry's crib too." He smiles. "I think that about covers it all."

She shifts, leaning into him, her head resting on his shoulder.

He wraps his arms around her and places his hands on her stomach. "We'll manage. It won't be easy. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but we'll get through it. You and me, always and forever."

She nods and tilts her head, closing the gap between their lips, her hand snaking around his neck, one of his sliding through her hair while the other still sits on her protruding belly.

He pulls away suddenly and gasps. "Did you feel that?"

She smiles, a genuine smile, and nods. "I did."

"God, that's amazing. Do you think he'll do it again?" He presses down lightly and blinks back tears. "Wow." He moves his hand and pushes against her stomach again. "Come on, baby girl. Show daddy how strong you are. Don't let your brother hog the spotlight." He meets Dakota's eyes and beams. Feeling overwhelmed, he crushes her lips with his and wraps his arms around her midsection.

"Ewwwww!" Henry shrieks, throwing one of his hands over his eyes.

Parker pulls back immediately and turns his head, staring at his little brother, his cheeks getting pinker by the second.

Henry slowly removes his hand, but keeps his eyes closed. "Mommy says it's time to eat."

Parker swallows, brushing his thumb across his swollen lips. "We'll be down in a minute."

Henry shakes his head. "She says you gotta come right now, Parky." He opens his eyes finally and walks over to the couple in the window. He climbs up onto the cushion, squeezing his tiny frame in between the two adults, and turns to face Dakota. He places both hands on her stomach and looks up into her green eyes. "Rissy says I'm gonna be an Uncle. I don't know what that means."

Parker messes up his little brother's hair and smiles.

Henry jumps. "Uh-oh."

"What's wrong?" Parker asks.

Henry shrugs. "I feeled something strange. Cody's belly pushed on my hand." He furrows his brow and looks up at Dakota again. "I think your tummy is angry. You better feed it."

Dakota laughs. "Short Stuff, that thing you just felt, like something pushing into your palm, that was the babies in my belly. They kicked. Well, your nephew, that's the boy, he kicked me and you felt it."

"Does it hurt?"

She shakes her head. "Nope. I mean, sometimes, if one of them keeps kicking the same spot over and over again, I get kind of sore, but no, it doesn't hurt. There's a lot of padding in between."

"Oh. Is it good that the babies kick you? Mommy and daddy say kicking people is bad. They say you only kick if they hurt you first. Did you hurt the babies first, Cody?"

"No, I didn't hurt them first. It's good that they kick. It reassures me that they're growing. They kick 'cause it's so cramped inside my belly and they want to tell me they're okay in there and that they can hear me and Parker talking to them."

"Can they hear _me_?"

"Yep."

Henry gets in close and smiles. "Hi, babies. I'm Henry. Rissy, that's my big sister, she says I'm your uncle. I guess that means I'm your friend. Your mommy says she didn't eat you, but I still don't know how you got in there. When you come out of there, you gotta tell me how. Your daddy, my big brother, says there's two of you in there. I bet you have lots of fun in there. I like sleepovers too." He gives Dakota's belly two kisses, one for each baby, and leans back, waiting for them to kick. His smile falls from his face when he feels nothing; however a few seconds later, his face lights up. "Did you feel it? Did you, did you, did you?"

Dakota laughs. "I sure did, Short Stuff. I think your niece and nephew like you."

"Good 'cause I like them too."

"There you are." Brennan enters the room.

Henry slips off the bench and runs over to his mom. "Mommy, the babies kicked."

Brennan's lips curve into a smile. "That's very exciting."

Henry nods. "I talked to them too."

Brennan runs her fingers through his hair while she addresses Parker and Dakota. "Dinner is ready. We're just waiting on you two."

The couple nods. "Henry told us," they say at the same time.

"Is everything okay?"

Parker nods, looking at Dakota briefly before turning back to his stepmom. "It will be."

"Just come downstairs when you're ready."

They nod again and Brennan and Henry leave the room, leaving the engaged couple alone once again.

* * *

After Parker and Dakota come downstairs, a toast is given by Brennan, grace is silently spoken, everyone fills their plates with more than enough food, and the group of adults sparks up a conversation, sharing heartfelt, humorous, or downright embarrassing stories of past Thanksgivings.

"I was still washing cranberry sauce out of my hair three days after," Hodgins adds to his particularly embarrassing tale after swallowing a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

Booth attempts to hold back a laugh, but is unable to keep it in any longer. He bursts into a hearty chuckle, the water he had been in the process of swallowing spews out.

Soon the entire room erupts in laughter, only partly because of Hodgins' story.

Brennan pats her partner's back and rubs in between his shoulder blades when he starts to cough and tries to regain her control, though she's failing miserably.

* * *

Meanwhile, Christine leans into Michael Vincent at the kids' table and whispers in his ear. "What do you think is so funny?" They're just far enough away that they can hear but can't make out the conversation the adults are having.

Michael shrugs. "I don't know."

Christine grunts. "This sucks. I hate sitting at the kids' table." She looks at her little brother, who is currently trying to balance a spoon on his nose. She rolls her eyes. "I'm not a little kid. I should be able to sit at the table with everyone else. I'm missing everything good." She shifts, the leather on the folding chair making a squeaking noise, which causes Henry and Billy to start giggling. "See? That's what I'm talking about."

Michael nods and turns his head to look at the adults again. "I know. We're not babies and it's really hard to have any type of conversation with two four-year-olds around, even harder having a conversation with them." He sighs. "Maybe we'll be able to sit at the adults' table at Christmas."

"I already asked."

"And?"

"My dad says not until I have breasts, get my period, and start shaving. Of course he didn't actually say that, he kind of stammered and cringed and said something like when you're a "woman", we'll see."

"And your mom?"

"She's been trying to convince my dad to allow me to sit at their table for years now. She thinks being part of or around more stimulating conversation is better for my intellectual development—whatever the heck that means."

"Obviously she hasn't been very successful."

"Obviously not," she grumbles. "It's apparently a tradition for the kids to be banished to a separate table. It's something Pops did."

"I wish your dad would listen to your mom 'cause maybe if my mom and dad saw that you were allowed to sit at the adult table, they'd let me sit there too. I am older than you."

"Yeah, well, we better get used to sitting here with our little brothers 'cause I don't see this little arrangement changing anytime soon."

He sighs, taking one last wistful look at the table of conversing adults, who are all smiling and laughing at something Parker said.

Suddenly Christine claps and nudges her best friend in the ribs.

"Ow, what?"

She cups his ear and leans in, whispering. "If we can't sit with the adults, we should just set up another table, you know somewhere in between their table and this table. We could call it the big kid table—it's a working title, don't judge me."

He hugs her and suddenly feels really weird for doing it. He pulls back and swallows. "That's a great idea, C!" He says that a little louder than he intended to, gaining the attention of Booth.

"What's a great idea?"

Christine and Michael share a look and a smile. She nods and says the first thing that comes to her mind. "That we should do this again for Christmas, Dad."

Booth notices the sly look passed between his daughter and her best friend and can tell his daughter's lying through her teeth right now, but chooses to ignore both observations and smiles instead. "That _is_ a great idea, Princess." He turns his head and jumps back into the conversation.

"They'll know what's up as soon as they see another table and see us sitting at it instead of sitting here with Billy and Henry," Michael points out.

Christine nods. "Yeah, I know, and it's not like they'll be mad that we're not sitting here, I just think it's more exciting when it's all secretive and stuff."

He laughs. "I love the way you think."

She smiles and picks up her fork, taking another bite of her turkey.

He smiles back, a little self-consciously, and goes back to eating his dinner.

* * *

**_Well, that's the end of this section. _**

**_Next up: The newest members of the Booth family will be making their story debut :D_**


	10. June 2022 (Part I)

Brennan's lying on one of the couches in the living room with a blanket wrapped around her, her head resting on one of the small, square pillows. Her eyes are closed, but she's not sleeping. She shivers and curls up more, pulling the blanket tighter around her.

Booth walks in from the kitchen with a piping hot cup of tea and stops in front of the couch. He nudges Brennan's shoulder and then brushes her hair away from her damp forehead. "Hey."

She opens one eye and squints at him. She opens her mouth to speak, but coughs instead, a loud, mucasy hack. She swallows hard and clears her throat. "Thanks," she whispers, her voice hoarse and hardly understandable.

He sets the mug down on a coaster and sits on the edge of the couch. He presses the back of his hand against her forehead and smiles faintly. "You're still warm, but I think your temp is lower."

"I don't feel any better," she croaks out, attempting to sit up. Her head is pounding, she feels as if she's got three-hundred-plus pound weights attached to her neck, waist, wrists, and ankles, her throat is sore and scratchy, she's got a bad cough, which only makes her throat ache more, her body is covered in a thin film of sweat from her 101.3 fever (making her even more uncomfortable), and despite her elevated temperature, she's freezing.

He sighs and adjusts the blanket around her. "Parker called. He wanted to know what time we were heading down tomorrow. I told him you've been sick since Saturday, so I wasn't sure if we were heading down _at all_."

She tries to sit up again, but she barely lifts her head and shoulders an inch off the couch before she collapses again. As she settles back down, she takes in a breath and goes into a coughing fit. She closes her eyes tight to keep the fresh tears from spilling out and rolling down her flush cheeks.

He rubs her back gently. "Breathe, Bones. You're okay. Just breathe."

After about two straight minutes of coughing, they ease up and she relaxes again. She swallows and hugs the blanket closer to her. She groans, letting out a soft whimper with it. "We can go. Call Parker back."

"Oh, no. We'll see in the morning how you're feeling. If your fever is gone and you're feeling better, maybe we'll still head down there tomorrow. If not, we'll just postpone our vacation until you're feeling better. Being sick on vacation, Bones, is no fun. Plus, Parker and Cody are bringing Ollie and Gracie. Babies are more susceptible to germs and stuff. We don't want them getting sick." He shakes his head when she opens her mouth to argue. "There's no use arguing with me. You know I'm right. You're miserable."

She just nods, unable to fight with him on this, due to the fact that the energy she has left is quickly draining.

"I'll go warm up your tea. You need anything else?"

She shakes her head. "No," she mutters.

He leans down and drops a kiss on the side of her head. "Feel better."

She offers him a small smile and closes her eyes again.

He looks at her for a few seconds before heading back into the kitchen. After heating up her tea in the microwave, he returns to the living room with the mug and a cool, damp washrag. He helps her sit up and hands her the tea. He sits beside her and tucks her hair behind her ears before, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He gently brushes the wet towel against her clammy, hot skin of her face and neck, watching her sink into the cushions farther and farther. "Do you think you'll be able to walk up the stairs?"

She nods, sipping her tea slowly. When she can't stomach anymore, she leans forward and sets the mug on the coffee table. She coughs again, grabbing a tissue to spit the excess mucus into.

He stands and holds out his arm for her to grab hold of while she pushes herself up from the couch.

She attempts to stand without any help from her partner, but fails miserably. She's achy and her body feels like lead, so she just ends up sitting back down. She grabs his arm and pulls herself halfway, which zaps all her remaining energy. She wobbles, her knees buckling under her weight.

He takes a step sideways and hooks his arm around her waist, straightening her out and keeping her steady and upright. "Just lean into me and hold on, okay?"

She nods, resting her head against his upper arm.

"I've got ya, Bones. You'll feel much better in the morning." He guides her up the stairs and settles her under the covers before heading back downstairs to shut off all the lights and make sure the doors and windows are locked.

* * *

The next morning, Booth wakes up to find his wife and partner curled up against him, her head resting on his chest. He can hear her snoring, like he does most mornings, though today, the sound is much louder due to her stuffy nose. He presses the back of his hand to her forehead and smiles. Her fever is gone. He shifts and strokes her hair, stopping only when he feels her begin to stir.

Brennan stretches her stiff limbs and yawns before opening her eyes. "Hmmm," she mumbles against his shoulder and rolls onto her back, stretching once again.

"Good morning." He pauses. "How're you feeling?"

She rubs her eyes and coughs when she feels a tickle in her throat. "Better." Her voice is hoarse and a little nasally, but she's more understandable this morning than she had been the three previous mornings.

"Good. You've got some color back in your cheeks and your fever seems to be gone."

She closes her eyes and her head bobs as she sneezes three times in quick succession.

"God bless you." He reaches over and pulls out two tissues from the box on his bedside table. "Here."

She sits up and takes the tissues from him, proceeding to blow her nose. "Thanks."

There's a knock on the door and then it slowly opens. "Are you guys dressed?" Christine asks, hiding behind the door.

"Yeah, Princess, c'mon in."

The door opens fully and Christine and Henry walk in, both still in their pajamas, their hair a mess. The latter climbs right onto the bed and scurries up to the pillows, squeezing in between his mom and dad. "Goooood moooorning, mommy, daddy." He beams, clapping his hands.

Brennan winces, still battling a small residual headache. "Good morning, Sweetheart."

"Are we gonna go to the beach today?"

Brennan shrugs, giving Booth a quick glance. "It's up to your father."

Henry turns to Booth and clasps his hands together, giving his dad a pout. "Please, daddy, with sugar on top."

Booth laughs, messing up his son's hair and wrapping him in a headlock. He gives him a noogie while the little boy squirms and giggles, pleading for him to stop. He finally lets up and smiles.

Henry makes his eyes wide and he pouts again, clasping his hands tighter in front of him. "Pleeeeeease, daddy."

"I don't know, buddy. Your mom's been pretty sick for the last three days. I'm not sure going on vacation today is such a good idea." Booth looks at Brennan and sighs. "You sure you're feeling alright?"

She nods. "Yes. I'm feeling a lot better. I'm still a little congested, and I have a small headache and a lingering cough, but I'm not contagious anymore. Plus, my energy level is up and will continue to rise, and while my body is still achy and my muscles are stiff from disuse over the last few days I've spent either in bed or on the couch, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

She rolls her eyes. "Booth."

"Okay, okay." Booth looks at his two kids, who have identical pleading looks on their faces. "Looks like we're going to the beach after all."

Henry squeals, bouncing up and down on his knees and clapping his hands. "Yay!"

Christine smiles. "Cool. Glad you're feeling better, mom."

Brennan nods. "Thank you. I am glad I'm feeling better, as well." She pauses. "Are you two packed?"

Henry nods. "Yep. Rissy helped me. She said I didn't do it right, so she did it for me."

"Well, you threw all your clothes in your suitcase and then zipped it up."

Henry sticks out his tongue and blows out. "Meany-head."

"Oh, shut up, Bird Brain. Thanks to me, all your clothes won't be a wrinkled mess now when you wanna wear them."

Henry turns to Brennan and pouts. "Mommy, Rissy called me a Bird Brain. Tell her to polagize to me."

"You called me a meany-head first, so you need to apologize to me too."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-huh."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah—."

"Enough!" Booth raises his voice, startling both the kids and Brennan too. "Your mom has a headache." He pauses. "Henry, you shouldn't have called your sister a meany-head, and Christine, you shouldn't have called your brother a bird brain. Both of you apologize to each other and then go get ready. Bud, your mom or I will be there soon to help. We need to be on the road by 9:30."

Henry looks at Christine and sighs. "Sorry, Rissy. I still love you, even if you're a meany-head sometimes." He wraps his arms around her and hugs her tight.

"I'm sorry too, Little Alien. You're not a Bird Brain. Well, not _all_ the time." Christine hugs him back, both kids now laughing.

After they separate, Henry and Christine get off the bed and head down the hall to their bedrooms to get ready.

Booth looks at Brennan and sighs. "I guess that's the best apology we're gonna get out of those two."

Brennan smiles. "I believe you are correct." She pulls away the sheets and comforter and takes her time standing. She staggers forward slightly, grabbing onto the corner of her nightstand to steady herself.

"Bones, maybe we should put off leaving another day."

"Booth, I told you, I'm fine."

He sighs.

She turns around and gives him a smile. "Really, I'm fine."

He nods. "You can take a shower first. I'll go help Henry get dressed, comb his hair, and brush his teeth."

"I'm fine, Booth. I've traveled when I was sick before. I can tell you that it was not fun, and I have no desire to do that ever again. It was a miserable experience."

He smiles. "I believe you, Bones. I'm just worried about you and I want us to have a good time."

"I know." She smiles back and disappears into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

Just before he leaves the room, he hears his phone ring. He looks at his bedside table where his cell phone usually resides, but doesn't see the ringing device there. He looks around, finally finding the phone in the pocket of the jeans he was wearing yesterday evening. He answers the phone just in time, without checking the caller ID. "Booth."

_"Dad, it's me, Parker."_

"Oh, hey, Bub, what's up?" Booth sits on the edge of the mattress, trying to catch his breath.

_"Something wrong? You sound out of breath."_

"I couldn't find my phone. I was trying to get to it before it went to voicemail…which I did." Booth pauses, smiling a little at his small triumph. "So what's up?"

_"How's Bones?"_

"She's feeling better, so we're gonna head down there this morning. I'm hoping to get on the road by 9:30. We'll see how that goes."

_"Awesome."_

"When are you and Cody heading down?"

Parker sighs. _"It turns out my boss needs me to come into the office this morning. It sucks, but whatever. I like the job. The boss is just a pain in the you-know-what. He only needs me until lunchtime, so it doesn't screw up our travel plans too much. I hope we'll get on the road by one, two at the latest."_

"Bummer."

_"Yeah. I'm only an intern, and I really need the money, so I can't really say no to my boss, you know? But Cody and I are definitely coming down, though, even if we have to leave tomorrow morning."_

"Sounds good, son. I'll tell Bones. Call when you leave and drive safe."

_"I will and I always do, Dad."_

"Bye. Love you."

_"Love you too."_

Booth hangs up, setting the phone down on his nightstand.

"Daddy, I getted dressed all by myself."

Booth turns his head and sees Henry with two different pairs of sneakers, which are on the wrong feet, navy blue and orange plaid shorts, and a yellow and white striped shirt, which is on backwards and inside out. "I see that, Buddy. That's very good, but how about you let daddy help you out a little?" He stands up and walks over to his son, taking him by the hand and walking with him back down the hallway to his room.

* * *

At 10:15, 45 minutes past the time he wanted to leave, Booth pulls out of the driveway and heads for the highway.

Brennan's sitting in the passenger seat, resting her head against the window, with her eyes closed. She's exhausted. She hadn't slept very much the past two nights, so it doesn't take very long until she's passed out.

Christine's sitting on the right side in the backseat of the SUV, staring out the window with her iPod turned up to an ear-drum-killing volume.

Henry is playing a superman game on his Nintendo DS, taking short breaks to look out the window.

Booth looks at Brennan and then glances back at the kids through the rearview mirror. He lets out a breath. "Peace and quiet," he mutters.

Not even two minutes after Booth's observation, Henry puts his DS on the vacant middle seat and looks over at Christine. He scoots as far over as he can in his booster seat and reaches for his big sister's left ear bud.

Christine catches sight of him out of the corner of her eye and turns her head. She removes one ear bud, the one he was reaching for, and furrows her brow. "What are you doing?"

"I wanna listen to music." Henry points to her headphones and iPod.

"Well, I'm listening to music right now."

"But I wanna listen too. Give me a ear thingy with the squishy-me-bob on it."

Christine shakes her head. "The music doesn't sound right with just one earphone in. It sounds all low and tinny. To get the full effect, you gotta listen with both _ear thingies _in_._"

"Then give me both ear thingies."

"This is _my _iPod, Henry."

"Rissy, I wanna listen to music."

"Ask mom and dad to turn up the radio then."

Henry shakes his head, tears welling up in his eyes. "No. I wanna listen to _your _music."

"Too bad, Little Alien," Christine says, a little harsher than she intended.

"Rissy!" Henry reaches over and grabs hold of his sister's t-shirt.

Christine pulls his hand off and scoots closer to him, pushing his shoulder away from her. "Just play your stupid DS."

"It's not stupid!" Henry lunges for her again, but Christine's fast to react this time and grabs his wrist mid-air. "Let go. Ow, Rissy, you're hurting me!"

Booth, having been listening and hoping that the kids would settle this rather loud disagreement themselves, soon realizes that won't happen until one of them ends up in the ER, so he pulls over to the side of the road and puts on his hazard lights. He unbuckles his seatbelt and twists his upper body around so he's facing his two kids. "Cut it out, or I'm turning around and driving home. No vacation, no beach." He pauses. "Your mom is still not feeling well, so keep it down."

Christine and Henry both nod, looking downward into their laps.

Booth turns back around and opens the center console. He looks around inside the compartment and pulls two things out of it. "Can I see your iPod, Christine?"

"What? I'm being punished 'cause I won't let Henry listen to _my_ iPod? How is that fair? He's the one that started the stupid fight."

"You're not being punished, Princess. Just give me your iPod. I'll give it right back, I promise."

Christine lets out a huff of air and angrily sets the device in her dad's open palm. She crosses her arms over her chest and grunts.

Like Booth promised, he hands the iPod right back to his daughter. "Now you _both_ can listen to it." He pauses. "Look, we have a five plus hour drive ahead of us, so let's just try _not _tokill each other. Please. Just sit back, relax, and listen to some music. Your mom is trying to sleep, so keep your voices down."

Christine nods and turns to look at her little brother, whose tears have since fallen from his eyes. She undoes her seatbelt and scoots into the middle seat. She takes the extra set of earphones that Booth has added to the iPod with a small device and pushes the 'squishy-me-bobs' into his ears. She then slides back over, buckles herself in once again, and replaces her own ear buds. She presses play on her iPod and looks over her brother, who's now smiling and bobbing his head to the song.

Booth smiles and turns forwards again. _Crisis number one…averted. _He buckles his seatbelt, takes one last look at his kids through the rearview mirror, and then puts the SUV in drive.

Brennan stirs, rubbing her eyes before opening them. "Hmmm. Are we there?" She asks, slightly confused as to why they're stopped.

Booth squeezes her shoulder. "Shhh. Just go back to sleep, Bones. We're not there yet. Everything is fine."

Brennan nods in her barely awake state and rests her head against the window again, closing her eyes. "Okay," she slurs, drifting back to sleep.

Booth turns off the hazards and switches on his blinker, pulling back into the flow of traffic. Having settled the siblings' squabble earlier, the only sounds he can hear (besides the rushing cars outside) are his partner's snores and his daughter's soft voice as she sings in the backseat, both of which are music to his ears.


	11. June 2022 (Part II)

**_This is one of my favorite chapters. I really don't know why. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you like it :)_**

* * *

Booth pulls into the driveway of their North Carolina beach front home and puts the SUV in park. He turns his head to the side and gently nudges Brennan. "Bones, we're here."

Brennan lets out the daintiest sneeze he's ever heard from her, her eyes still closed.

He rubs her shoulder. "Bones?"

She moves slightly and lifts her head off the window. She rolls out her neck and stretches, a soft, mewling sound escaping her lips.

He smiles, though it fades almost immediately when she lets out a hacking cough.

She swallows and unbuckles her seatbelt. She turns her head, feeling his gaze on her. Instead of responding to his unnecessary concern, she opens the door and gets out of the SUV. She opens the back door and shakes Henry awake. "Come on, Honey, wake up, we're here."

Henry wakes slowly, stretching his arms and legs with his eyes still shut. He yawns freely and rubs his eyes, blinking them open and looking at his mom with that confused-just-woke-up stare. He twists his body to undo his seatbelt and slips from his booster seat. He grabs onto his mom's outstretched hand and jumps out of the car, pumping his fist when he sticks the landing.

Brennan guides the little boy towards the trunk and lifts the hatch. She picks him up, setting him down on the edge of the trunk's interior. She hooks her arm around his waist and points to his bag, which sits on top of the other luggage, whispering for him to reach in and grab it.

Henry stretches and grabs one of the straps, yanking it towards him.

Brennan takes it from him so he can hop down and then slings the straps around his shoulder. She messes up his hair and then grabs her suitcase. She looks at Booth, who has just joined them, along with a half-awake Christine, who is standing just behind her dad. "We'll meet you two inside." With a nod from her partner, she looks down at Henry and smiles. "Come on, Sweetheart."

Henry runs ahead of her, stopping when he gets to the door. He tries to open the door, but soon finds it locked. "Mommy, hurry. I don't think I can wait any more. I'm gonna bust down the door like daddy!"

Brennan laughs, walking just a little bit faster, her key ring out with the house key at the ready. She's not interested in repairing a broken door or taking a broken little boy to the emergency room. She quickly unlocks the door, despite having her anxious son at her side, telling her to go faster. She lets him pass through the threshold before she steps into the house, leaving the door open for Booth and Christine. "Henry?" She calls out, looking around.

Henry jumps out from behind the living room wall and shouts, "Boo!"

Brennan jerks, clutching her chest, while a noisy gasp/scream escapes.

Henry laughs, looking up at her. "I scared ya!"

Brennan doesn't even try to hide it. "You did. You got me good."

Booth walks into the house and raises an eyebrow. "Everything okay, Bones?"

"I scared mommy! I really scared her. She jumped and screamed and it was awesome."

Booth holds up his hand. "High five, Little Man."

Henry leaps up, slapping his dad's hand.

Booth places a hand on his partner's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You okay?"

Brennan nods, some of the color returning to her face. "Yes." She coughs and keeps her hand over her heart until it returns to a less erratic rhythm.

Henry leads the group onto the elevator and presses the button for the second and third floors before anyone else has a chance to. He rocks on the heels of his sneakers, looking at the floor numbers above the doors and watching the '1' go dark and the '2' light up.

The elevator stops and the doors slide open a second there.

Booth steps forward and holds the doors open for Brennan. He steps out after her, but throws his arm out when the elevator doors begin to shut again, effectively opening them again. "Come downstairs in five minutes or so if you want to get a say in the grocery list." He pulls his arm back and watches the doors shut with a squeak. He drapes his arm around Brennan's shoulders and turns them both around, steering her towards their bedroom.

Brennan grips her suitcase handle and falls in step with him as they make their way into their room.

* * *

Meanwhile, upstairs, Henry runs off the elevator, his backpack bouncing up and down. He opens the door to his room and discards his bag almost immediately. He jumps onto his bed and fans out his arms and legs, like you would do when making a snow or sand angel.

After depositing her suitcase in her room and taking a brief moment to relax on her bed and bury herself in the lush comforter, Christine walks across the hall, all traces of her earlier tiredness gone. She goes into her brother's room, only to find it empty. Upon closer examination, she can see his hair poking out from the other side of the bed. She decides to play along, anyway. "Where are you, Little Alien?" She pulls back the comforter, making an exaggerated 'Aha' followed by an 'Oh'. "Not under there." She can hear giggling now, but ignores it. "I wonder if you're under the bed," she says a little louder than necessary and gets on her knees, bending so she can see under the bed. She hears the springs of the mattress, so she stays, looking under the bed a little longer.

He scurries across the mattress, and climbs onto her back. "Got ya, Rissy!"

"Ah!" She feigns surprise, turning her head to look at her little brother. She carefully flips him off her back and hovers above him.

He's squirming before she even starts tickling him. He knew it was coming the second she had him pinned to the carpet. He kicks his legs and laughs, trying to catch his breath. "Rissy, no-o, sto-op, ple-ease." He rolls onto his side, but she keeps tickling him.

"Say Uncle."

He sputters, still laughing as the tickling intensifies. "Sto-op. Ri-Ri-Rissy, sto-op!"

"Say Uncle," she repeats, not relenting.

"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle," he squeals.

She pulls her hands back and gets up. "C'mon, Little Alien." After about a minute, she holds her arm out only to pull it away at the last minute when he goes to grab it. "Okay, for real this time." She holds her arm out again and when he grabs for it a second time, she pulls it away, laughing at the scowl she receives.

He stands up, not even bothering to grab his sister's hand, which she has, once again, left suspended in the air for him.

She pulls him into a hug and kisses the top of his head.

He pushes her away, squirming out of her embrace. "Stop it, Rissy."

She just smiles at him. "Oh, c'mon, Little Alien. I'm only messing with ya. Parker did the same thing to me _all _the time. I'm just, you know, paying it forward." She nudges him towards the door. "Let's go. Mom and dad are probably making a mess of that shopping list."

He gives her a glare when she messes up his hair and then leaves the room, heading back towards the elevator.

* * *

Brennan's sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of water and a memo pad set in front of her, and a pen in her hand. "I refuse to write Pizza Rolls on the list, Booth. You know how much fat are in those? Not to mention, the sodium content and the preservatives."

"But they taste soooo good, Bones," Booth whines, grabbing for the pen.

She pulls it away from him and shakes her head. "At your age, you should be more concerned with your health."

"At my age? You make me sound old."

"Well," she draws out, "you're not exactly a, what's the phrase, 'a spring chicken' anymore."

"_At my age, _if I wanna eat crap, I can, and nobody, _no_…_body_, can stop me."

"There are healthier alternatives," she says, halfheartedly. This isn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last time they have this "discussion".

"Yeah, yeah, no thanks, I'll save the rabbit food for, you know, the rabbits."

She rolls her eyes and taps the pen against the lined paper. "My point is, there is absolutely no way I'm putting Pizza Rolls on this list."

"That won't stop me from getting them." He sticks out his tongue at her.

She laughs at the complete immaturity of his display. "You're worse than Christine—no, you're worse than Henry."

At that moment, the two kids in question waltz into the kitchen, both slightly out of breath and rosy cheeked. Christine takes a seat at the table and snatches the list, sliding it towards her. She grabs the pen too, which Brennan had set down, and pulls the cap off with her teeth. "I'm writing down Pizza Rolls," she announces after she skims the list.

"Mmmmm, Pizza Rolls," Henry comments.

Booth tips his chin and smiles smugly. "Three against one, Bones. Looks like we're getting Pizza Rolls."

Brennan throws her arms up in surrender. "I'm just looking out for you, Booth. Is that such a bad thing?"

Booth rests his hands on her shoulders and dips down, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. "No, of course not, but denying a man his dang Pizza Rolls—now that's a very, very bad thing." He laughs, lowering his head more and kissing her cheek.

Brennan laughs, pushing him away. "Fine, but we're getting the small box." She looks up at him, smiling.

"Are you guys gonna make out now?"

The two adults look over at their daughter, their eyes slightly wide.

"'Cause if you are, I'll just take Henry into the other room," Christine finishes, successfully killing any further desire the pair had for sharing a kiss.

Brennan clears her throat. "Let's finish writing this shopping list, so we can go grocery shopping before Parker and Cody arrive with the twins."

With three nods, all four of them get to work formulating the rest of the list.

* * *

**_Next up: Ollie and Gracie finally make their debut and there's thunderstorm _**


	12. June 2022 (Part III)

Brennan's asleep on the couch when Booth returns from the store with Christine and Henry. He immediately takes note and turns around to face the kids, calling them back before they run up the stairs. "Mom's asleep, so you guys need to be extra quiet. C'mon. Help me put away the groceries and then we'll watch a movie."

"But I wanna go swimming, Daddy," Henry wines.

Christine laughs. "Yeah, go ahead, Little Alien. Get struck by lightning, be my guest."

Henry pushes her. "That's not nice, Rissy."

"That was sarcasm, little brother."

Henry crosses his arms across his chest. "That's still not nice. I'm gonna—."

"Whoa, okay, cut it out, both of you." Booth paused. "C'mon, chop, chop, in the kitchen, _now._"

The two kids nod and tread quietly through the living room and into the kitchen.

Booth takes one last look at the couch and smiles before following his kids out of the room.

Brennan moans and rolls onto her other side so she's facing the back of the couch, drifting back to sleep.

* * *

Brennan finally arouses from her nap a half hour later and sits up. She stretches and yawns, before standing and walking into the kitchen. She realizes that her headache is gone, for which she is very grateful, though she knows with a two kids and two infants in the house there is a good chance it will come back with a vengeance. She pours herself a glass of orange juice and sits at the island counter, grabbing the newspaper that she surmises Booth picked up when he was out getting the groceries. _Speaking of Booth, where is he? Where are the kids for that matter? _She listens, but hears nothing. The house is quiet, almost _too_ quiet.

She sips her OJ and scans the paper, keeping her ears open. She can hear the rain assaulting the roof and wood of the deck, only broken up by the loud clap of thunder. She hopes it's not going to rain the whole week. That would certainly be a waste of a vacation and she'll surely go crazy if she's stuck in the house with two bored kids. She sighs and takes her eyes away from the window just as a flash of electricity lights up the late afternoon, dark grey sky.

The door to the basement opens and Henry steps out. He tiptoes into the kitchen, keeping his lips pursed to prevent him from making noise.

"There you are. Where are your dad and your sister?"

Henry jumps. "Ah!" He lets out a breath and sighs. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I'm sorry I waked you up. I didn't mean it."

She just smiles at him. "I was already awake, Honey. You were very quiet."

"Really?"

"Really." She pauses. "So where is everyone?"

"Daddy and Rissy are downstairs. We're watching _Despicable Me 2._" He beams and walks over to the refrigerator. He pulls open the door and looks up at the top shelf where the milk is. He sighs and stretches his arm up as far as it will go. "Eh-uh-eh-uh."

"I'll get you something to drink, Sweetheart. What would you like?"

"Milk, please, Mommy."

"Okay." She walks over to him and takes the carton of milk out. She grabs a glass from the cabinet and fills it halfway up. She recaps the carton and bends down, handing Henry the glass. "Be careful."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," she answers back, placing the milk back in the refrigerator.

He holds the glass in two hands, watching the liquid slosh against the sides as he walks over to the kitchen table. He manages to sit down without any major spills. He smiles, proudly and takes a sip. Suddenly, a loud thunder clap sounds, causing him to jump, let out a yelp, and drop the glass (which thankfully is plastic), spilling the rest of the milk.

She sighs and grabs a paper towel, wetting it some. She walks over to the table and picks up the glass, which landed on the floor. She rubs Henry's shoulder blades and she wipes up the spilled milk. "It's okay, Bud."

He buries his face in her shirt when she gets close enough to him and wraps his arms around her middle. "Mommy," he whimpers.

"I know, Sweetheart." She rubs soothing circles into his back, feeling him shaking. "Go back downstairs with your dad and sister. You can't hear the thunder from down there."

He nods, not wanting to let go. "What if the monsters get me?"

"What monsters?"

"Rissy says thunder is when the monsters get angry. She says when they get angry, they come after little boys like me."

She shakes her head, pulling him back so she can look him in the eyes. "Sweetheart, there are no such things as monsters. Your sister was just teasing."

He sniffles. "Are you sure, Mommy? I don't wanna be monster food."

She smiles and gives him a quick hug. "I'm positive." She kisses the top of his head and walks over to the sink.

He jumps off the chair and follows her, grabbing onto her shirt. "Wanna watch a movie with me and daddy and Rissy?"

"I'd love to, Sweetheart. Go downstairs and I'll be down in a minute."

He nods and lets go. He starts to walk towards the basement when he hears another boom. He jumps and stays put, his body trembling slightly. "Mommy?" His voice shakes and he bites his bottom lip.

"It's okay, Buddy. The thunder is outside. It can't hurt you."

He smiles and straightens his shoulders. "I'm not scared. Thunder is stupid," he says to himself as he takes a few steps forward.

She watches him gain confidence with each step and soon he's disappearing down into the basement. "That's my boy." As she places her glass and Henry's in the dishwasher, she hears the front door open.

"Anybody home?" Parker's voice calls out in the silence.

"In the kitchen," Brennan calls back.

Parker and Dakota head in that direction. "Where is everybody?" He asks, giving Brennan a one arm hug.

"Your dad, sister, and brother are downstairs watching a movie. I was about to join them." Brennan gives Dakota a hug next and smiles. She gives Gracie, who is wiggling around in the carrier her mom's holding, a goofy smile and reaches down to tickle her, getting a laugh out of the four month-old. She turns her attention to Oliver, who is kicking in the carrier his dad's holding and sucking on a set of rubber keys, and gives him a similar smile as she gave his twin sister. "How was the drive?"

Parker shrugs. "Traffic was horrible, but other than that, not too bad."

"Are you two hungry? Your dad just went food shopping."

Dakota shakes her head. "We stopped for lunch about an hour ago. We should be good until dinner. Well, _I _will be good until dinner, I don't know about this Big Guy," she says, patting her fiancé's stomach.

Parker smiles at her and adjusts his grip on the infant carrier.

"Do you need any help with your luggage?"

"No, Bones, I've got it."

"Well, get settled and then come down in the theater room. I believe Henry said they're watching _Despicable Me 2._"

"Alright. We'll be down soon." Parker pauses. "Oh, how are you feeling, Bones? Dad said you've been sick."

"I'm fine. I'm feeling much better, thank you."

"Good. We'll be down in a few minutes."

Brennan nods and heads downstairs, while Parker hands the infant carrier over to Dakota and goes outside to get their bags.


	13. June 2022 (Part IV)

**_Sorry, it's been a while, but here, have some fluff. And by some, I mean a lot. Enjoy :)_**

* * *

It's later that day and Booth, Brennan, Parker, Dakota, Christine, and Henry are in the non-theater part of the basement, while Grace and Oliver napped. The power had gone out an hour ago, so that put an end to their movie watching, at least for the time being.

"I'm bored," Christine whines, pushing a puzzle piece into a random spot, beyond frustrated.

Henry grunts. "That doesn't go there, Stupid." He snatches the piece away from her and points to the picture. "It's green. That," he points to the piece that she was trying to fit that one into, "is brown. Duh."

"I'm not stupid. You know what's stupid? This puzzle." Christine messes up the little bit of the border they had been working on.

Henry throws down the piece he's holding as his eyes well up with tears. His bottom lip begins to quiver and he screams. "Mommy!" He leaps up and runs over to Brennan, who's sitting on the couch, talking to Booth about something. He tugs on her shirt to get her attention and points at Christine. "Mommy, Rissy messed up my puzzle. Tell her to fix it."

Brennan glances at Christine and then at the puzzle, now apart on the table. "Is that true, Christine?"

Christine grunts. "Yeah. I'm bored and this puzzle is for babies."

"Hey, I'm not a baby! I'm four and a half."

"Christine, apologize to your brother and help him put the puzzle back together."

"Why do I have to apologize? He called me stupid."

Brennan looks at Henry and raises an eyebrow. "Is _that_ true?"

Henry shrugs. "Yeah, but Mommy, she was trying to put a green piece in a brown piece. Even _I _know that won't fit."

"You still shouldn't have called your sister stupid, Henry."

Henry nods. "Yes, mommy, I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

Henry looks at Christine. "Sorry I called you stupid," he grumbles.

"Christine," Brennan prompts.

"I'm sorry I wrecked the puzzle, Little Alien." Christine sighs. "I'm bored," she repeats.

"Why don't we play a game?" Booth suggests.

"Yay!" Henry claps. "What game, Daddy? Duck, duck, goose?"

Christine groans. "Please, God, no."

"How about monopoly? That's always fun," Brennan suggests.

"That game takes forever, Mom. I don't have enough patience for that. Plus, Henry always cheats."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

Booth clears his throat. "Enough."

It's silent for a second and then Henry shouts, "Do not—ha, I win!"

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Enough!"

"Do too," Henry whispers before swallowing and looking at his Dad.

Christine blinks and does the same.

"Now, we're going to find a nice, quiet game to play until the power comes back on. We _all_ have to agree on this game, though."

"I know, I know!" Henry pauses. "Let's play Twister."

"Any objections?" Getting silence and a shake of the head from everyone else, Booth stands and heads over to the closet. He grabs the game and goes back over to the rest of the family.

"I'll be the spinner," Christine volunteers.

Booth nods and glances at Brennan as he sets up the mat. "You in, Bones?"

"I—."

Henry leaps up and tugs on her hand. "You gotta play, Mommy. It's funner when you do."

"I don't know if it's more fun, but I suppose I will play."

"Yay!"

"Parker? Dakota? You two in?" Booth asks, smoothing out one of the corners on the classic game mat. It's years old, so it's slightly faded, there's also a couple rips in one of the edges, and the board barely lies flat anymore; but it's still playable.

Parker and Dakota share a look and then smile at each other. "We're in," they say at the same time.

"Me first! Me first!" Henry chants after he takes off his socks.

Christine sits on her knees and flicks the spinner, waiting a few seconds before she slaps her hand down to stop it. "Right hand blue, Little Alien."

Henry holds his hands and looks at his mom. "Mommy, which one is my right hand?"

Brennan smiles and wiggles the index finger on his right hand. "This one."

Henry nods and presses his right hand on a blue circle.

"Who's next?"

Brennan shrugs. "I guess I'll go next."

Christine flicks the spinner again and stops it once more. "Okay, Mom, right foot green."

Brennan stands up and stands with her right foot on the last green circle.

"I'll go," Booth says.

Christine nods and spins the spinner. "Left hand green."

Booth places his hand on the second green circle.

Parker goes next and stands with his left foot on a yellow circle.

Dakota ends up having to put her right hand on a red circle.

* * *

Five minutes later and it's Henry's turn again. He has his right hand on blue, left hand on green, and right foot on yellow. He's currently leaning over Brennan, who has her right foot on green, left hand on yellow, right hand on red, and her back to Booth, who's leaning backwards over Dakota, having both feet on green and his left hand on blue.

Christine shakes her head, laughing at their positions. She flicks the spinner and then stops it. "Left hand on red."

Henry pauses, thinking, and then twists his body. The second he places his hand on the red circle, his foot slips and he collapses on top of Brennan, who kicks Booth's hand as she falls, causing him to lose his balance, which in turn makes Dakota fall too, which because she was partially on top of Parker, he falls too.

All six of them erupt in laughter and Christine puts down the spinner. Feeling left out, she falls onto her dad's lap, wiggling her way into the pile.

Booth wraps his arms around his daughter and pulls her into him. He meets her blue gaze and begins to tickle her.

Christine squirms and laughs, pushing against her Dad's chest. "No—o, Da—ad, sto—op." She kicks her legs and rolls over, trying to get away from his wiggling fingers. "Sto—op," she gasps out, unable to breathe, both from the tickling and because she's laughing so hard. "I'm gonna," she exhales, "pee my pants."

Booth stops long enough for his daughter to get away.

_Works every time, _Christine thinks with a smile, catching her breath far away from her father.

Booth spots Henry trying to crawl away from the heap of people, so he scoops him up and begins to tickle him instead.

Henry laughs and squirms, punching his Dad in the arm. "Daddy, no, I don't like the tickle monster!"

"Too bad, Little Man."

"Nooooooo!" Henry laughs harder and pushes at his Dad's chest, trying to roll out of his arms.

Booth tightens his grip on the small boy and doesn't let up. Eventually, he stops, allowing his son to catch his breath and scurry away, seeking solace in his mother's arms and lap.

"Daddy's mean, Mommy. You're nice. You don't tickle me," Henry gasps out, his breath still uneven.

Brennan glances at Booth from over their son's head and raises an eyebrow, for which she gets a nod in response. She looks back at Henry and kisses his cheek. "Are you sure about that?"

Henry's brown eyes widen and he audibly gasps. "No, Mommy, don't."

Brennan slowly raises her hand and makes eye contact with the boy.

Henry shakes his head, trying to get away, only to be pulled back into his mother's arms. "Mommy, no, you're nice, you're nice," he pleads.

Brennan smiles, and with one last glance at Booth, she begins to tickle the little boy.

Soon, Booth joins in, followed by Christine, then Parker, and then Dakota gets in on the action too.

Henry squirms and kicks his legs, a futile attempt to escape the nimble fingers of his family. "No—o, sto—op." He gasps for breath and wiggles around, trying to push away the hands.

Soon all of them are laughing, so they let up. The lights flicker on and the projector beeps. None of them notice the power has come back on until the movie begins playing again; the sound is what ultimately alerts them.

Brennan exhales and wipes the tears from her cheeks. She scoots over to Henry and goes to pull him into a hug, but he scurries in the opposite direction. She sighs. "I just want to hug you, Sweetheart. I'm not going to tickle you."

"Promise, Mommy?"

"I promise."

Henry smiles and hesitantly crawls over to her.

When he's close enough, Brennan wraps her arms around his small frame and kisses the top of his head.

Realizing his mom's telling the truth, Henry melts into her embrace and completes it, squeezing her back.

"I love you."

"Love you too, Mommy, but you're still mean."

"I'm sorry." Brennan pauses. "The next time the power goes out, you can tickle me; how's that?"

Henry beams. "Okay, Mommy, deal!" He pulls back and stands, walking into the other room and sinking down into one of the seats. He pats the seat next to him and looks over at Brennan. "Sit, Mommy. The lights are on again, so we can watch the movie."

Brennan goes to sit down in her own chair, but then decides against it. She lifts the little boy up and sits in his seat, setting him down on her lap and wrapping her arms around him.

Booth and Christine take their seats again and both look at the screen.

Dakota and Parker are about to join them when faint cries filter though the baby monitor. They excuse themselves and head upstairs to check on Grace and Oliver.

After a while, Brennan turns to Henry and whispers, "So the odd-looking purple things are evil?"

Henry nods with his whole upper body. "Yep." He pauses. "Shhh."

Brennan nods. "Sorry."

"Shhh!" Henry shifts, slinging his arm around her neck.

"Yeah, Bones, Shhh."

"Shhh!"

Brennan smirks at Booth and sassily shrugs her shoulders.

Booth kisses her cheek and slips his hand in hers. He smiles when he feels her squeeze his hand and then turns his focus back to the animated movie.

Christine curls her feet under her and does the same.

* * *

**_One more chapter in this section. Not sure when I'll get that chapter up; possibly this weekend, but I'm not going to promise anything. The next section will be the last one. _**

**_Thanks!_**


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